On January 19th, our telemetry shows TikTok traffic plummeted around 3:30 GMT, causing global speculation. While we expected an outage in conjunction with the United States "Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act" some have labeled this early downtime a publicity stunt—especially as it preceded the much-discussed January 20th deadline—we observed a rapid drop in TikTok-related connections on corporate and consumer networks alike. The platform resumed "normal" operations on January 20th.

A Closer Look at the Event

In anticipation of the shutdown, our ThreatSTOP Security, Intelligence, and Research team conducted extensive analysis on TikTok-related domains and IP addresses. Through both automated and manual investigations, we identified many different networks associated with TikTok, as you can imagine, it relies on a ton of CDN infrastructure. As a result, we expanded our coverage to include an additional 15 networks.

For organizations aiming to proactively manage TikTok access on their corporate environment, we’ve introduced the “TikTok – Domains”Target. This feature empowers you to effectively enforce or block TikTok traffic according to your organization’s policies.

 

How ThreatSTOP’s Solutions Can Help

Protective DNS

By channeling your DNS queries through ThreatSTOP’s Cloud-based infrastructure, DNS Defense Cloud ensures malicious or unwanted queries are filtered upon lookup from your network. When it comes to monitoring high-profile applications like TikTok, this protective approach adds an extra layer of proactive security to keep your environment safeguarded against evolving threats. If you prefer hosting your own DNS servers, DNS Defense integrates seamlessly with on-premises infrastructure. Backed by our constantly updated intelligence feeds, DNS Defense empowers you to take the reins of your network security. Enforcing a TikTok blocklist—or any other app-specific blocklist—can be done efficiently by integrating ThreatSTOP intelligence directly into your existing DNS devices.

IP Defense

Should your team need to protect and manage IP-based systems—such as routers, firewalls, IPS, or cloud-based WAFs—IP Defense is your go-to solution. This approach leverages the same robust intelligence to identify and isolate risks at the IP level, ensuring your network is protected from command and control channels, data exfiltration, DDoS traffic, and beyond.

The Power of Proactive Protections

All three solutions are fueled by ThreatSTOP’s ever-evolving threat intelligence. Our Security, Intelligence, and Research team vigilantly tracks and analyzes malicious activities, from command and control to phishing, SPAM, peer-to-peer misuse, and more. This commitment allows us to offer the most current, proactive protections—whether you’re focused on TikTok traffic or broader cyber threats.

Connect with Customers, Disconnect from Risks

For those interested in joining the ThreatSTOP family, or to learn more about our proactive protections for all environments, we invite you to visit our product page. Discover how our solutions can make a significant difference in your digital security landscape. We have pricing for all sizes of customers! Get started with a free 30 day Demo today!