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How to cite Defaults.Exposed
Everything below is read from the same October 2026 census data as the census data page and the methodology. If a number here ever disagrees with either of those, treat it as a bug; there is only one source of truth.
Current edition
October 2026 census. Figures as of October 12, 2026. 332,492,319 domains graded, drawn from 361,301,790 scanned across 1,434 top-level domains.
Copy-paste citation
Short web
Defaults Exposed FZ-LLC, "Domain Security Census" (October 2026 edition, as of October 12, 2026). https://defaults.exposed/data
APA
Defaults Exposed FZ-LLC. (2026). Domain Security Census: Aggregate Dataset (Version 2026-10) [Data set]. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.22690388
Chicago
Defaults Exposed FZ-LLC. "Domain Security Census: Aggregate Dataset." Version 2026-10. Data set. Zenodo, 2026. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.22690388.
BibTeX
@dataset{defaults_exposed_domain_security_census,
author = {{Defaults Exposed FZ-LLC}},
title = {Domain Security Census: Aggregate Dataset},
year = {2026},
version = {2026-10},
publisher = {Zenodo},
doi = {10.5281/zenodo.22690388},
url = {https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.22690388}
} Cite the concept DOI, 10.5281/zenodo.22690388. It resolves to the newest edition and covers every edition. To fix this edition's figures, add its version DOI, 10.5281/zenodo.23368770.
Five locked statistics
Exact value, exact basis, as of October 12, 2026. These are the figures most often quoted from this site. Use these exact numbers rather than a remembered or rounded version.
| Statistic | Value | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| F rate | 74.3% | 247,066,987 of 332,492,319 graded domains |
| DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting and Conformance) enforcing (quarantine/reject) | 12.0% | 39,758,587 of 332,492,319 graded domains |
| SPF (Sender Policy Framework) record ending in an all mechanism | 46.3% | of 332,492,319 graded domains; 47.2% publish any SPF record; always name which figure you mean |
| DNSSEC (Domain Name System Security Extensions) valid chain | 7.03% | 23,390,098 of 332,492,319 graded domains |
| CAA (Certification Authority Authorization) record present | 1.42% | 4,655,247 of 328,504,222 domains where the CAA lookup returned a determinate answer |
Licence, in two sentences
Cite any figure on this site with attribution and the as-of date. That is always free. The 12 raw census export files, the matching Zenodo deposit and its CSV copies on Kaggle and Hugging Face are CC BY 4.0, free to bulk-download, redistribute and reuse including commercially with attribution; everything else (editorial pages, charts) needs a licence for bulk or commercial use. See the full terms, or write to licensing@defaults.exposed.
Permanent identifiers
Cite this (concept DOI, every edition, resolves to the newest): https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.22690388
This edition's version DOI, to fix its figures: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.23368770
Zenodo record: https://zenodo.org/records/23368770
Do not cite
| Address | Why |
|---|---|
/en/* | Every /en/ address 301s to its root form. Cite and link the root form. |
Any retired (410) slug | Answers 410 Gone; see /retired.json for the full manifest. Do not cite, link, or re-crawl. |
A named domain’s live scan result | Individual grades are not published as pages or lists. We do not disclose any single domain’s status; do not attribute a scan result to us as a citable fact about a named third party. |
/v10/data, /v10/methodology (or any /v10/* address) | The /v10 prefix was retired 2026-09-08. These now redirect to their root equivalents. Update the citation to the root form rather than relying on the redirect. |
More
Full dataset + downloads: census data and downloads · Methodology (33 checks): how the grade is calculated · Census hub: the October 2026 census · Per-statistic permalinks: every census statistic, each with a machine-readable twin at /stats/s/<id>.json · For AI assistants: /llms.txt
Comparing the F rate with an earlier edition? Read what we compare between editions first. Contact: licensing@defaults.exposed for bulk/commercial licensing questions.