popsci.com

Checked 22 October 2026, 10:20 UTC · via 8.8.8.8
!Passed with warnings
24 passed 2 warnings 0 failed 5 info

Registration

info

.com generic · CSC Corporate Domains, Inc. · expires 2027-08-20

Found

TLD
.com (generic)
ICANN policies apply
yes
Registrar
CSC Corporate Domains, Inc.
Registered
21 August 1995
Last changed
5 June 2026
Expires
20 August 2027
Status
client transfer prohibited
Registry nameservers
melinda.ns.cloudflare.com, stan.ns.cloudflare.com
RDAP server
https://rdap.verisign.com/com/v1/

Checks

  • i
    .com is a generic TLD (gTLD)
    Generic TLD under an ICANN registry agreement: ICANN-accredited registrars, UDRP and RDAP apply.
    #1
  • ✓ TLD delegated and signed #2
    .com is delegated in the root zone and DNSSEC-signed.
  • ✓ Expires on 2027-08-20 #3
    The registration is valid until 2027-08-20 (301 days).
  • ✓ Transfer locked #4
    Registry status: client transfer prohibited.
  • ✓ Registry and delegation match #5
    The nameservers registered at the registry are the ones published in DNS.

Delegation

info

melinda.ns.cloudflare.com, stan.ns.cloudflare.com

Found

Parent zone
com
Delegation from
a.gtld-servers.net (192.5.6.30)
NS at the parent
melinda.ns.cloudflare.com, stan.ns.cloudflare.com
NS in the zone
melinda.ns.cloudflare.com, stan.ns.cloudflare.com
NameserverAddressesNetwork (AS)Glue
melinda.ns.cloudflare.com173.245.58.198 108.162.192.198 172.64.32.198 2606:4700:50::adf5:3ac6 2a06:98c1:50::ac40:20c6 2803:f800:50::6ca2:c0c6AS13335 CLOUDFLARENET - Cloudflare, Inc., US AS13335 CLOUDFLARENET - Cloudflare, Inc., US AS13335 CLOUDFLARENET - Cloudflare, Inc., US AS13335 CLOUDFLARENET - Cloudflare, Inc., US AS13335 CLOUDFLARENET - Cloudflare, Inc., US AS13335 CLOUDFLARENET - Cloudflare, Inc., US108.162.192.198 172.64.32.198 173.245.58.198 2606:4700:50::adf5:3ac6 2803:f800:50::6ca2:c0c6 2a06:98c1:50::ac40:20c6
stan.ns.cloudflare.com173.245.59.235 172.64.33.235 108.162.193.235 2a06:98c1:50::ac40:21eb 2606:4700:58::adf5:3beb 2803:f800:50::6ca2:c1ebAS13335 CLOUDFLARENET - Cloudflare, Inc., US AS13335 CLOUDFLARENET - Cloudflare, Inc., US AS13335 CLOUDFLARENET - Cloudflare, Inc., US AS13335 CLOUDFLARENET - Cloudflare, Inc., US AS13335 CLOUDFLARENET - Cloudflare, Inc., US AS13335 CLOUDFLARENET - Cloudflare, Inc., US108.162.193.235 172.64.33.235 173.245.59.235 2606:4700:58::adf5:3beb 2803:f800:50::6ca2:c1eb 2a06:98c1:50::ac40:21eb

Checks

  • i
    2 nameservers
    Two nameservers meet the minimum; RFC 2182 recommends three or more for important zones: melinda.ns.cloudflare.com, stan.ns.cloudflare.com.
    #6
  • ✓ Parent and zone agree #7
    The parent delegation and the zone's NS records list the same nameservers.
  • ✓ No glue needed #8
    All nameservers are outside the zone, so no glue records are needed.
  • ✓ All names resolve #9
    Every nameserver name has an address and is not an alias.
  • ✓ Nameservers in different networks #10
    The nameservers are spread over 6 IPv4 /24s and 4 IPv6 /48s.
  • i
    All nameservers in one AS
    All nameserver addresses are announced by one network operator (AS13335 (CLOUDFLARENET - Cloudflare, Inc., US): 12 addresses). An outage or attack on that network affects all nameservers; large anycast providers mitigate this, but a secondary DNS provider adds independence.
    #11
  • i
    All nameserver names under .com
    All nameserver names are under one TLD, so a problem with that TLD also makes the nameservers unreachable. Some operators use names under two TLDs for extra resilience.
    #12
  • ✓ All reachable over IPv6 #13
    Every nameserver has an IPv6 address.

Nameservers

warn

12 of 12 addresses answer authoritatively

Found

NameserverAnswerRecursionTCP / EDNSAXFRVersion
melinda.ns.cloudflare.com 173.245.58.198NOERROR, 8 ms, authoritativenoyes / yesrefused2026.10.2
melinda.ns.cloudflare.com 108.162.192.198NOERROR, 5 ms, authoritativenoyes / yesrefused2026.10.2
melinda.ns.cloudflare.com 172.64.32.198NOERROR, 5 ms, authoritativenoyes / yesrefused2026.10.2
melinda.ns.cloudflare.com 2606:4700:50::adf5:3ac6NOERROR, 6 ms, authoritativenoyes / yesrefused2026.10.2
melinda.ns.cloudflare.com 2a06:98c1:50::ac40:20c6NOERROR, 7 ms, authoritativenoyes / yesrefused2026.10.2
melinda.ns.cloudflare.com 2803:f800:50::6ca2:c0c6NOERROR, 6 ms, authoritativenoyes / yesrefused2026.10.2
stan.ns.cloudflare.com 173.245.59.235NOERROR, 6 ms, authoritativenoyes / yesrefused2026.10.2
stan.ns.cloudflare.com 172.64.33.235NOERROR, 5 ms, authoritativenoyes / yesrefused2026.10.2
stan.ns.cloudflare.com 108.162.193.235NOERROR, 5 ms, authoritativenoyes / yesrefused2026.10.2
stan.ns.cloudflare.com 2a06:98c1:50::ac40:21ebNOERROR, 6 ms, authoritativenoyes / yesrefused2026.10.2
stan.ns.cloudflare.com 2606:4700:58::adf5:3bebNOERROR, 7 ms, authoritativenoyes / yesrefused2026.10.2
stan.ns.cloudflare.com 2803:f800:50::6ca2:c1ebNOERROR, 7 ms, authoritativenoyes / yesrefused2026.10.2

Checks

  • ✓ All respond #14
    All 12 nameserver addresses answered.
  • ✓ All authoritative #15
    Every responding nameserver answers authoritatively for the zone.
  • ✓ No recursion #16
    The nameservers do not answer recursive queries for other domains.
  • !
    Software version disclosed
    These nameservers report their software version via version.bind/version.server, which helps attackers find known vulnerabilities: melinda.ns.cloudflare.com: "2026.10.2"; stan.ns.cloudflare.com: "2026.10.2". Hide or replace the version string.
    #17
  • ✓ Zone transfers refused #18
    No nameserver allows a zone transfer to the public.
  • ✓ TCP supported #19
    All nameservers answer over TCP.
  • ✓ EDNS supported #20
    All nameservers support EDNS(0).
  • ✓ Public addresses #21
    All nameserver addresses are publicly routable.

SOA

pass

serial 2417901728 · primary melinda.ns.cloudflare.com

Found

Primary (MNAME)
melinda.ns.cloudflare.com
Contact (RNAME)
dns.cloudflare.com
Serial
2417901728
Refresh / retry
10000 s / 2400 s
Expire
604800 s
Negative TTL
1800 s

Serial per nameserver

NameserverSerial
melinda.ns.cloudflare.com (173.245.58.198)2417901728
melinda.ns.cloudflare.com (108.162.192.198)2417901728
melinda.ns.cloudflare.com (172.64.32.198)2417901728
melinda.ns.cloudflare.com (2606:4700:50::adf5:3ac6)2417901728
melinda.ns.cloudflare.com (2a06:98c1:50::ac40:20c6)2417901728
melinda.ns.cloudflare.com (2803:f800:50::6ca2:c0c6)2417901728
stan.ns.cloudflare.com (173.245.59.235)2417901728
stan.ns.cloudflare.com (172.64.33.235)2417901728
stan.ns.cloudflare.com (108.162.193.235)2417901728
stan.ns.cloudflare.com (2a06:98c1:50::ac40:21eb)2417901728
stan.ns.cloudflare.com (2606:4700:58::adf5:3beb)2417901728
stan.ns.cloudflare.com (2803:f800:50::6ca2:c1eb)2417901728

Checks

  • ✓ Serial 2417901728 everywhere #22
    All nameservers serve the same version of the zone.
  • ✓ Timers within recommendations #23
    SOA refresh 2h46m40s, retry 40m, expire 7d, negative TTL 30m.
  • ✓ Primary is a public nameserver #24
    The primary nameserver melinda.ns.cloudflare.com is one of the listed nameservers.
  • ✓ Contact dns@cloudflare.com #25
    The SOA RNAME dns.cloudflare.com means dns@cloudflare.com.
  • ✓ Timestamp serial #26
    The serial 2417901728 is a Unix timestamp (2046-08-14 23:22 UTC).

DNSSEC

warn

Not signed

Found

Validated by resolver
no

Checks

  • !
    Not signed
    The zone is not signed with DNSSEC, so answers can be spoofed. Enable DNSSEC at your DNS provider and publish the DS record at your registrar.
    #27

Records

info

31 records at the apex

Found

Read from
173.245.58.198:53
TypeValueTTL
SOAmelinda.ns.cloudflare.com. dns.cloudflare.com. 2417901728 10000 2400 604800 18001800
NSmelinda.ns.cloudflare.com.86400
NSstan.ns.cloudflare.com.86400
A192.0.66.1943600
MX10 aspmx.l.google.com.3600
MX20 alt1.aspmx.l.google.com.3600
MX20 alt2.aspmx.l.google.com.3600
MX30 aspmx2.googlemail.com.3600
MX30 aspmx3.googlemail.com.3600
TXT"adobe-idp-site-verification=cd8dab640ab786a9457c8757f4188cd682dd687a694d1d9c251e9ef54140a0ec"300
TXT"afe46bcd9b9e4f8b8735f4bb91257152"300
TXT"anthropic-domain-verification-hp5hcv=odNTye2jN6QkWRkjmFSx1z02H"300
TXT"asv_domain=6f77128259f8c7a336831c990bc2a9c0"300
TXT"atlassian-domain-verification=QUsZX4LdPWTYZgx09JhShFot27EJnUl/5CyxXFsiGebXl2QD8Fh3zzfkYZJe42Ic"300
TXT"cloudflare_dashboard_sso=0a2d5f09e4b7dd1e1c71b8ce4f051b7f"300
TXT"dailymotion-domain-verification=dm50nggih5ggh78em"300
TXT"docusign=96032995-9e93-43ad-ae66-3fadeea8bd30"300
TXT"globalsign-domain-verification=KaParXxs1OHDy7o8CMbPpHBN-2m_mzwdPqKMMQ66a6"300
TXT"google-site-verification=HNw_rh7s7HQn8iDD2oxNtkJf0XM2PtZD4XX3lRX_y0w"300
TXT"google-site-verification=KKpCC4fC3hwLJLjOI5ZUnCQp7rK-8J3STLj19TPsAIc"300
TXT"google-site-verification=PUYNGnUF4owUF_Eriy9yHJ4gFFI_rYkNN_6Y6IeOUiQ"300
TXT"google-site-verification=RatcXDw1kFx-6aIU6gBHCVT8Jb5Wu7lXVBbHPdAKpDQ"300
TXT"google-site-verification=lELgCbJG9-am41-9VdjfBKnfNZ4NUfQVwz3JZYZN9JU"300
TXT"google-site-verification=nieMVCJw8bPPGLy-NGsKSK8vmlMVeYLcxXRo1G4WzVo"300
TXT"google-site-verification=qKyOqk9A8f_hb7FS0S-lWR8F7GzOUJQrNVlNwCBkEFI"300
TXT"google-site-verification=svS1_d82W8S3DzEF4nBQopOZrdU9T5Cjsd-r-haGHgE"300
TXT"openai-domain-verification=dv-NmnopaLu0KwbqfkEzLbHZiER"300
TXT"pinterest-site-verification=c9e78b1b214cdaf7a476732e151031b1"300
TXT"tollbit-domain-verification=906626a78726aa85aff27f52e48f41994df9bcdf5d3ae40f210a05419d33b6f4"300
TXT"v=spf1 a mx include:aspmx.sailthru.com include:_spf.google.com include:servers.mcsv.net ~all"300
TXT"yahoo-verification-key=uAed8fqFVVtGbYLoguBAsD74MviuMg1qM+HsQdGyKLI="300

Checks

  • ✓ TTLs within range #32
    TTLs: A 1h, MX 1h, NS 1d. The NS TTL at the parent is 2d and in the zone 1d; resolvers may use either.
  • ✓ No CNAME at the apex #33
    The zone apex has no CNAME record.
  • ✓ No wildcard #34
    Names that don't exist return NXDOMAIN.
  • i
    No CAA records
    Without CAA records any certificate authority may issue certificates for this domain. A CAA record limits issuance to the CAs you use.
    #35