The DNS Abuse Institute (DNSAI) will begin publishing its data from September this year. It aims to create a unified database on the illegal use of domain names. Previously, it was assumed that the publication of reports will begin in June, and the first issue will be released by the opening of the 74th ICANN meeting, but, obviously, there was not enough time. This is quite understandable, given the magnitude of the task.
The DNSAI is established by the Public Interest Registry (PIR), which operates the .ORG generic top-level domain. Its partner in building the database is Kor Labs, a project of the Grenoble Institute of Technology. Organizations will collect and publish information about domain names used for phishing and malware distribution. At the same time, in accordance with ICANN's recommendations, spam domains will be considered malicious only if the messages they distribute are intended to carry out other illegal actions. DNSAI also intends to clearly identify and separate websites hacked by cybercriminals and domains that were originally registered for illegal activity.
Domain Incite, reporting this news, draws attention to an important detail: DNSAI will name registries and registrar companies that manage the largest number of domains abused. This is a rather unusual practice; earlier attempts to create such information resources were limited to anonymous statistics. However, the DNSAI is confident in its decision: “We want to understand abuse persistence and whether it has been appropriately mitigated by registrars,” says DNSAI Program Director Rowena Schoo.
