Netcraft
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Netcraft is an Internet services company based in London, England. The company provides cybercrime disruption services across a range of industries.
History
Netcraft was founded by Mike Prettejohn in Bath, Somerset.<ref name=wsj-20230718/> The company provides web server and web hosting market-share analysis, including web server and operating system detection. In some cases, depending on the queried server's operating system, their service is able to monitor uptimes;<ref name=Netcraft>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> uptime performance monitoring is a commonly used factor in determining the reliability of a web hosting provider.<ref name=Ezine>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name=netcraft-timeline>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
The company is also known for its free anti-phishing toolbar for the Firefox, Internet Explorer, and Chrome browsers. Starting with version 9.5, the built-in anti-phishing filter in the Opera browser uses the same data as Netcraft's toolbar, eliminating the need for a separately installed toolbar. A study commissioned by Microsoft concluded that Netcraft's toolbar was among the most effective tools to combat phishing on the Internet, although this has since been superseded by Microsoft's own Internet Explorer 7 with Microsoft Phishing Filter,<ref name=3sharp>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> possibly as a result of licensing Netcraft's data.<ref name=ms_announcement>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The service can only process public IPv4 servers at the exclusion of IPv6. The browser extensions will display security information for a domain's IPv4 servers even when the user is connected to a different server over IPv6.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
In November 2016, Philip Hammond, Chancellor of the Exchequer, announced plans for the UK government to work with Netcraft to develop better automatic defences to reduce the impact of cyber-attacks affecting the UK.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>Template:Cite press release</ref> As of 2022, Netcraft operated the UK government’s National Cyber Security Centre malicious website takedown service.<ref name=telegraph-20220510>Template:Cite news</ref>
In 2023, Netcraft secured growth investment of $100 million from Spectrum Equity Management and appointed a new chief executive, Ryan Woodley. It also moved its headquarters from Bath to London.<ref name=wsj-20230718>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name=nationaltechnology-20230719>Template:Cite news</ref> In September 2023, Netcraft announced the acquisition of Australian internet security analysts FraudWatch International, who have 70 staff.<ref name=bis-20230912>Template:Cite news</ref>
In 2024, Netcraft combated online fraud. By leveraging its AI platform, Netcraft creates decoys to lure scammers, allowing it to monitor and analyze their tactics in real-time.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
In 2025, Netcraft found that AI models have been leading users to invalid login URLs, which tend to be phishing sites.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Netcraft reported that 34% of login URLs suggested by AI could lead to incorrect sites.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
See also
References
External links
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