The problem is that .zip conflicts with the very commonly used zip archive format which has caused user confusion - a user might click on what appears to be a URL to www.fakewebsite.zip and instead end up downloading a malicious .zip file. This creates an unnecessary and entirely avoidable security risk.

Google opened registration for the .zip and .mov top-level domains to the general public on May 3, 2023. Its release was immediately met with condemnation from cyber security experts as a result of its similarity with the file format of the same name. Malwarebytes warned against the use of already recognizable filenames and their confusion with top-level domains, as "plenty of users already have a clear idea that .zip means something completely different". Experts cautioned against their use, and noted that the use of .zip filetypes in cybercrime had had "an explosion" in recent years. Cisco warned against the potential for leaks for personal identifying information. Researchers also registered similar concern about Google's .mov domain.

Surveys by security researchers immediately following public release of domain registration found numerous examples of links and domains registered under .zip being used in phishing attempts, and the ICSS recommended disabling access to .zip domains until "the dust settles and risks can be assessed".

.zip (top-level domain) - Wikipedia

(en.wikipedia.org)

Choosing to use this TLD basically just screams ignorance, and should be causing users to question the competence of the person who made that choice.

Targeting Lemmy specifically? probably not, but that's not really the issue. It's not that being a .zip address makes the server vulnerable, it's that the existence of the .zip TLD makes everyone vulnerable:

Surveys by security researchers immediately following public release of domain registration found numerous examples of links and domains registered under .zip being used in phishing attempts, and the ICSS recommended disabling access to .zip domains until "the dust settles and risks can be assessed".

.zip (top-level domain) - Wikipedia

(en.wikipedia.org)

lemmy.zip doesn't allow users from the UK.

You guys are making me feel left out

Our findings show that the abuse rate for the .zip TLD is 0.20% which is close to the average compared to all other TLDs. This rate indicates that .zip domain names are not being used to attack users more than the average TLDs - at least for now. However, if attackers find they have better success using .zip than other TLDs, the rates of abuse might change.

Given new TLDs, such as .zip, tend to have a higher abuse rate than legacy and ccTLDs we suggest that the security research community should continue the healthy debate about the potential risks of the .zip TLD and that internet users continue to be weary of downloading and opening files with a .zip extension or TLD from sources or individuals they may not know.

The .zip TLD: Ripe for abuse, but so far so good

DNS Research Federation (dnsrf.org)

Choosing to use this TLD basically just screams ignorance, and should be causing users to question the competence of the person who made that choice.

Not sure if that tone is the best for a healthy debate.

Our findings show that the abuse rate for the .zip TLD is 0.20% which is close to the average compared to all other TLDs. This rate indicates that .zip domain names are not being used to attack users more than the average TLDs - at least for now. However, if attackers find they have better success using .zip than other TLDs, the rates of abuse might change.

Given new TLDs, such as .zip, tend to have a higher abuse rate than legacy and ccTLDs we suggest that the security research community should continue the healthy debate about the potential risks of the .zip TLD and that internet users continue to be weary of downloading and opening files with a .zip extension or TLD from sources or individuals they may not know.

The .zip TLD: Ripe for abuse, but so far so good

DNS Research Federation (dnsrf.org)

Choosing to use this TLD basically just screams ignorance, and should be causing users to question the competence of the person who made that choice.

Not sure if that tone is the best for a healthy debate.

Those users are probably going to go to feddit.uk?

Right, ok, so the problem with having a debate on this subject is that there's no reason for this risk to exist at all. There's no good reason to have a .zip TLD, there was no need for it, it should not have been created and no one should use it.

If you're weighing pros and cons, there are exactly 0 pros. Therefore no matter how minor you think the cons are, they outweigh 0 pros by 100%.

Also, "nothing bad has happened yet" is not a valid argument and is a terrible basis for making risk decisions.

Dunno, I was already here just thought it was worth mentioning in a community on feddit.uk hah.

'This bridge is literally held together with duct tape, but it hasn't killed anyone yet!'

I'm with you, unecessary risk. Thank you for the explanations.

take a peek at lemmy.sdf.org

I see your perspective, but is there any similar instance that is not Lemmy.zip?

From another post

Lemmy.world is too big  

sh.itjust.works names contains "shit", which can deter users  

lemmy.ca is Canadian-centric  

feddit.org, is German-centric, but technically English speaking too  

dbzer0 is topic focused  

programming.dev is topic-centric  

blahaj is queer-focused  

discuss.tchncs.de has a difficult name  

lemmy.sdf.org does not defederate anyone  

beehaw defederates LW and SJW  

infosec.pub is topic-centric  

aussie.zone is country-centric  

midwest.social is region-centric  

Quick comment to copy-paste to promote Lemmy - Divisions by zero

Here is a 5-lines comment I usually use on Reddit when people ask about Lemmy or a Reddit alternative ----- " Lemmy has 47k monthly active users - https://discuss.online/ [https://discuss.online/] if you want a server located in the USA (content is still accessible from any server, the most difference latency) - https://sopuli.xyz/ [https://sopuli.xyz/] if you want a server located in the EU - https://vger.app/settings/install [https://vger.app/settings/install] if you want an app Feel free if you have any questions " — A few questions that get asked quite often about this comment. ##### Why no explain what federation is? Most of the users don’t care about federation. They want a jump-in Reddit replacement, and it’s usually better to keep the message short and simple. There are users on Sync or Voyager who only use their app, and don’t even know what instance they are on. And they are doing okay, they can still use the platform, see content, vote, comment, post. People who want to understand more will figure it out later. No need to overwhelm them. ##### Why those two instances? Long story short, there is no ideal generalist instance. If you open the top 20 instances (https://fedidb.org/software/lemmy/ [https://fedidb.org/software/lemmy/]) - Lemmy.world is too big - Lemm.ee [http://Lemm.ee] is federated with hexbear and lemmygrad, something that is not very welcoming to new users (see this thread: https://sh.itjust.works/post/28798607/15305964 [https://sh.itjust.works/post/28798607/15305964] ) - sh.itjust.works names contains “shit”, which can deter users - lemmy.ca [http://lemmy.ca] is Canadian-centric - feddit.org [http://feddit.org], is German-centric, but technically English speaking too - dbzer0 federates hexbear - programming.dev is topic-centric - blahaj is queer-focused - discuss.tchncs.de [http://discuss.tchncs.de] has a difficult name - lemmy.sdf.org [http://lemmy.sdf.org] does not defederate anyone - lemmy.zip is federated with hexbear and lemmygrad - beehaw is way outdated - infosec.pub is topic-centric - aussie.zone is country-centric - midwest.social is region-centric and admin can power trip at times (https://sopuli.xyz/post/20038037 [https://sopuli.xyz/post/20038037]) That’s how I came up with sopuli.xyz (neutral name, stable, defederated grad and hexbear) and discuss.online (same). Mentioning one per continent allows users to make one choice, so that we avoid the Lemmy.world situation where users realize that the server follows European laws (remember the announcement following Luigi: https://lemmy.world/post/22920690 [https://lemmy.world/post/22920690] ) I also have no way to know what the person I’m replying to is interested in. Of course if you are commenting on a specific subreddit, feel free to adapt the message for a fitting instance. ##### Why Voyager? Same logic, people want one app. Voyager is feature rich and is available on both Android and iOS, and follow the Apollo design that a lot of people might be familiar with. If people want to change, they will later https://www.lemmyapps.com/ [https://www.lemmyapps.com/] That’s it for now, see you in the comments for any feedback! ##### Why not use join-lemmy.org [http://join-lemmy.org]? This website can be hit or miss, with some very negative experience recently: https://lemmy.world/post/24220536 [https://lemmy.world/post/24220536] I prefer to just point out to two instances that I know are stable and reliable. ##### Why not Discord? Discord is a poor replacement for Reddit. Here are 4 reasons why: - Format: Discord’s main strength is chat-style messages, not forum-style discussion threads, like Reddit and Lemmy. Discord groups with more than a few dozen active users can quickly become disorganized. - Barrier to entry: Content on Discord is inaccessible unless you have a Discord account, while almost all content on Reddit and Lemmy is available without registration. - Discoverability: Google (and other search engines) index Reddit and Lemmy, and relevant threads show up in searches. Discord content cannot be indexed, and won’t show up in searches. - Censorship: A Discord community is ultimately still controlled by a single Big Tech company, which can delete your community on a whim if they so choose. Lemmy, being a distributed social network, is inherently resistant to censorship.

(lemmy.dbzer0.com)

Lemmy Explorer

Instance and Community Explorer for Lemmy

(lemmyverse.net)

We do federate with HB at .zip. No defederations from major instances.

Yes, the moderation has been great.

Just sometimes the performance has been lacking. Like none of the pages loading and having to wait 15 minutes before they can be accessed again.

Maybe it is because I connect from the middle of Europe or something though.