WHOIS is a query and response protocol used to retrieve information about registered internet resources. It is mainly used to look up information about:
Think of WHOIS as the internet's phonebook, allowing you to identify who owns or manages a domain or other internet resource.
whois <domain>
Example:
whois inlanefreight.com
Example Output:
Domain Name: inlanefreight.com
Registrar: Amazon Registrar
Creation Date: 2019-08-05
Updated Date: 2023-07-03
...
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Domain Name | The registered domain (e.g., example.com). |
| Registrar | The company where the domain was registered (e.g., GoDaddy, Namecheap). |
| Registrant Contact | The individual or organization that owns the domain. |
| Administrative Contact | The person responsible for managing the domain. |
| Technical Contact | The person responsible for technical issues related to the domain. |
| Creation Date | The date the domain was first registered. |
| Expiration Date | The date the domain registration expires. |
| Updated Date | The last time the domain registration information was modified. |
| Name Servers | DNS servers responsible for translating the domain name into an IP address. |
WHOIS is commonly used during reconnaissance to: