A NIC handle (Network Information Centre handle) is a unique alphanumeric character sequence that represents an entry in the databases maintained by Network Information Centres.
Once a domain name has been registered, its NIC handle can be used to search for that record in the database.
[1] [2] The NIC handle was developed in 1982 by Ken Harrenstien and Vic White working at the early Network Information Center at SRI International.
[3] The NIC Handle system is no longer commonly used by domain name registries.
NIC Handles are still used extensively in the RIPE Database to identify people and business roles.