Prompt

Conduct open source intelligence data collection about cityinthe.cloud. Answer the following questions as they relate to the cityinthe.cloud domain.

Walk-Through

This challenge involves conducting a WHOIS query on a domain name. WHOIS is a protocol for querying databases that store information about Internet resources and domain names.

A domain name is a human-readable address that identifies resources on the Internet. Instead of the numerical IP addresses (e.g. 8.8.8.8) that computers use, domain names (e.g. google.com) provide an easier way for humans to access the Internet.

For those unfamiliar with the concept of domain names and the DNS system, the following articles may provide useful background before proceeding with the challenge.

Wikipedia Article

Cloudflare Blog Post

Initial Steps

To solve this challenge, an executable tool (such as the standard whois command-line tool found on *nix systems) can be used or try a browser-based DNS lookup tool such as ICANN’s registration lookup tool.

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Please note: When using online sources, rely on authoritative or multiple reputable references to avoid inaccurate information. This will help you minimize the risk that you mistakenly obtain incorrect information

Breaking Down a Domain Name

The cityinthe.cloud domain name can be broken down into two components:

cityinthe - The second-level domain

.cloud - The top-level domain (TLD)

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The precedence of domain names goes from right to left.

A quick search of the .cloud TLD will pull up the Wikipedia article for the .cloud TLD (shown below) which will help provide key information to solving this challenge.

The Wikipedia article for the .cloud TLD

This research shows that the .cloud TLD is delegated by ICANN and managed by Aruba S.p.A., making these two organizations authoritative sources regarding the .cloud TLD.

Based on this information, ICANN’s registration lookup tool can be queried with confidence that its results are authoritative and should be preferred over those from third-party sources.

The results of the cityinthe.cloud query on the ICANN lookup tool (below) provide enough information to solve all the questions posed in this challenge.

The results of the cityinthe.cloud query on the ICANN lookup tool

Questions

Who is the registrar of this domain?

See the “Registrar Information” section from the ICANN lookup results

On what day was this domain first registered?

See the “Created” field from the ICANN lookup results

What is this domain's registry domain ID?

See the “Registry Domain ID” field from the ICANN lookup results

What is the Top-Level Domain (TLD) of this domain?

See the description of how the domain name can be broken down

What organization manages the TLD used by cityinthe.cloud?

See the research about the TLD.