Increase in the number of new websites registered in Limerick
MORE than 1,300 new '.ie' websites were created in Limerick last year indicating there is a strong digital enterprise presence locally, a new report has found.
The Domain Profile Report 2022, published by the national registry .IE, found that Limerick stands out for its notable creation of new websites which is important for the digital economy.
A total of 1,344 .ie sites were registered in Limerick during 2022 - an increase of 1.4% compared to 2019 the last full calendar year before Covid.
Nationally, 48,168 new sites were registered with .IE last year.
According to the national registry, the words ‘Limerick’ and ‘Coin’ were the most frequently used keywords in new domain names registered in Limerick while the shortest .ie website address registered locally is just two characters long - www.a5.ie.
The report from IE is a deep dive on domain registrations in Ireland and is an indicator of the growth of digital enterprise. However, it also highlights issues relating to cyber attacks, a negative aspect of any online database.
A cyber attack is defined as data which is targeted to be stolen online. A total of 500 cyber attacks were shut down across Ireland last year according to the latest .IE report.
Speaking at the launch of the report, Chief Executive of .IE David Curtin said: “At .IE, it is a priority to proactively tackle abuse in the .ie namespace to protect both small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and their customers,”
“The findings of our .IE Domain Profile Report highlight some security vulnerabilities of .ie profiles, but it also demonstrates where we provide enhanced supports to help Ireland’s digital economy thrive.”
The trustworthiness of a .ie domain is also internationally recognised by The SpamHaus Project, an international non-profit organisation that tracks spam and related cyber threats.
Only individuals and businesses with a verifiable connection to Ireland can register a .ie domain, which keeps websites with .ie largely free from scams and other illegal activities.
At the end of December there were almost 330,000 .ie domain names - 91%of which were registered by businesses or individuals on the island of Ireland.