.garden TLD's change to a bad neighborhood

The .garden top-level domain has experienced a dramatic surge in malicious activity, with registrations jumping from 2,500 domains in 2025 (average risk score 55) to 147,000 domains in 2026 (average risk score 84), primarily driven by domains using AliDNS nameservers and Dominet registrar. Security experts recommend organizations completely block the .garden TLD due to its association with abuse, attributing the problem partly to its extremely low first-year registration cost of $1.54-$1.99, which makes it attractive for malicious actors.