NetBeacon promises to make abuse reports easier for both parties.
DNS Abuse Institute has launched NetBeacon, which it calls the first-ever centralized DNS abuse reporting service.
NetBeacon promises to make it easier for domain registrars and registries to receive and handle abuse complaints. It provides these entities with a centralized submission point that enhances complaints. It converts complaints into an industry-standard format called XARF, and additional data from abuse databases is appended to the reports.
Internet users can submit malware, botnets, phishing, and spam complaints in three ways: 1) through the NetBeacon.org website, 2) through forms embedded on participating registrars’ websites, and 3) through an API.
It seems that NetBeacon will be most helpful if the majority of domain registrars join. And there could be a big benefit for registrars to participate; I could see a benefit for registrars to funnel complaints through one centralized system.
Abuse submissions are not anonymous. Users must sign up for a NetBeacon account or use single sign-on. This could cut down on abusive abuse complaints, in which bad actors flood registrars with bad reports to keep their compliance departments bogged down. (For more about this type of activity, listen to DNW Podcast #361 with Hillan Klein of Namecheap.)
NetBeacon is free for both submitters and registrars/registries. CleanDNS donated its development of the system.
I’m getting a demo of the system shortly and will be reporting more about it. I’d also like to hear from registrars and registries with their opinions of NetBeacon.
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