Of course there are multiple ways to gain information.  But that doesn't diminish the value of any individual piece of data.  To the contrary, larger agreements pointing in the same direction strengthen the conclusion.  Like Sam, I would never rely on WHOIS exclusively -- but it serves a good identification function.

Paul

Paul Rosenzweig
[log in to unmask]
O: +1 (202) 547-0660
M: +1 (202) 329-9650
VOIP: +1 (202) 738-1739
www.redbranchconsulting.com
My PGP Key: https://keys.mailvelope.com/pks/lookup?op=get&search=0x9A830097CA066684

-----Original Message-----
From: NCSG-Discuss [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Sam Lanfranco
Sent: Thursday, July 6, 2017 10:31 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [INPUT REQUESTED] How do non-commercial Internet users use WHOIS?

Niels,

In the interests of brevity I did not detail that I also used alternate gov't and ngo means to verify that the family foundation was not credible. However, the WHOIS registration date was valuable to toss up an initial warning flag.

Sam L.

On 7/6/2017 4:54 AM, Niels ten Oever wrote:
> Verifying the credibility of the U.S. family foundation would have 
> been done in many different ways too, and is by no means a final check 
> of approval/credibility. In the same context WHOIS could be used to 
> harass the (for example) Kenyan NGO and its collaborators during 
> upcoming Kenyan elections.
>