EstDomains To Be Shut Down?

EstDomains isn’t popular among computer security people. The domain registrar is said by many to be the main registrar for domains associated with spam and cybercrime. As F-Secure chief research officer Mikko Hypponen wrote:

"They’ve been on our map for years as they’ve been the largest registrar used by online criminals for their domain name registration needs."

But EstDomains might not be around too much longer. The company has been notified by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) that it will be stripped of its accreditation due to the conviction of its chief executive, Vladimir Tsastsin, who was found guilty in Estonia of money laundering, credit card fraud and forgery.

EstDomains handles just over 280,000 domain registrations. The termination of accreditation was due to go into effect November 12, but EstDomains has appealed, stating Tsastsin had resigned his post, Vnunet reports.