A domain name and security patent — Disney gets

Invention helps sizable organizations determine which domains they own and if they are susceptible to attack.

Disney owns a lot of domains: disney.com, disneyland.com, espn.com, marvel.com…the list goes on and on.

In fact, like many firms, the firm itself might not know all of the domains it owns. This makes managing these domains and protecting them an immense challenge.

But the firm has a solution, and it’s now a patented solution.

Today, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office granted patent number 11,736,510 (pdf) to Disney Enterprises for Domain security assurance automation.

The invention has two parts.

First, it helps organizations figure out what domain names it owns. To determine common ownership, it uses Whois data, site metadata, IP addresses, content, and other clues.

Second, it applies security rules to determine which domains might be susceptible to attack. For example, it might look at if a robust firewall is used, if the domain has interactive components, and if it requires authentication.

Disney filed the patent application in July 2021.