DNS Abuse Institute announces renaming to coincide with an expansion of its offerings in an effort to eliminate DNS Abuse online

RESTON, Va., May 6, 2024 -- The DNS Abuse Institute, dedicated to combating online technical abuse and fostering a safer digital environment, announced Monday its transformation into the NetBeacon Institute. This renaming reflects the Institute's continued vision and commitment to provide innovative solutions in the fight against DNS Abuse which includes malware, botnets, and phishing.

NetBeacon Institute Logo

Technical abuse online is a complex, global problem with cyber attacks continuing to become more advanced. As hackers target developing sections of the world and run threats where users are most vulnerable, it is imperative that the domain industry has the capabilities to keep users safe. With a comprehensive suite of programs, the NetBeacon Institute aims to provide all registries and registrars with access to free innovative solutions, education opportunities and collaboration with key industry and cybersecurity stakeholders.

"We have always strived to provide more resources for organizations and make space for entities to come together to address DNS Abuse. With a central Institute providing free, specific data about DNS Abuse like malware and phishing, domain registrars and registries are better prepared to mitigate threats," said Graeme Bunton, Executive Director of the NetBeacon Institute. "Through this renaming and expansion effort, we hope to make safety resources more accessible to a wider audience in order to grow our work and partnerships and continue to make the web a safer place."

The Institute's flagship programs will be renamed as part of this transition to better reflect their mission and scope.

Introducing NetBeacon Measurement and Analytics Platform (MAP) 

Initially launched in September of 2022 as DNSAI: Compass, NetBeacon MAP is the Institute's initiative to measure phishing and malware. As NetBeacon MAP expands its public reporting and improves the user experience of its free MAP products, it will continue to be guided by its priorities of transparency, credibility, independence, accuracy and reliability. The most recent offerings were developed following hundreds of one-to-one meetings and collaborative discussions with registries and registrars:

  • Specific Reporting: The NetBeacon MAP: Monthly Analysis report identifies registrars and Top Level Domains with the highest and lowest levels of malicious abuse concentrations in their zones.
  • Dashboards for registries and registrars: NetBeacon MAP: Dashboards provide an academically rigorous free benchmarking metric to compare over time and between industry peers. The dashboards display how much phishing and malware is concentrated in the zones the registries and registrars manage, how much was mitigated, and how quickly. They also provide details on whether the domain was maliciously registered, or related to an issue of a compromised website—an essential piece of information to inform whether mitigation action at the DNS level is appropriate. Combatting DNS Abuse requires many stakeholders. NetBeacon MAP: Dashboards help operators optimize efforts to communicate progress and improve collaboration internally and externally to better combat threats.

Introducing NetBeacon Reporter

Initially launched in June 2022, NetBeacon Reporter will continue to empower individuals and organizations to report suspected DNS Abuse and empower registrars and registries with higher fidelity abuse reports to act upon. Thanks to continued collaboration with CleanDNS, an anti-abuse solution provider which generously donated the development and technology behind the program, NetBeacon Reporter has rapidly grown since its launch, from handling hundreds of abuse reports in its first year to tens of thousands in its second.

Originally launched by Public Interest Registry, the people behind the .ORG family of domains, the NetBeacon Institute was envisioned as a place to bring together leaders in the anti-abuse space, fund research, publish recommended practices, share data, and provide tools to identify and report DNS Abuse. In tandem with the nonprofit mission of Public Interest Registry at large, the Institute and organization aim to make the internet a safer place for all.

"Here at Public Interest Registry, we are excited to celebrate the programs run by our newly named NetBeacon Institute," said Jon Nevett, CEO of Public Interest Registry. "We hope the new name and expanded work of the Institute will make fighting DNS Abuse more simple and accessible for all. We always aim to make the Internet a better place for users of all kinds, and the programming we support at the NetBeacon Institute does just that. This work will ensure that more people are able to use the Internet without fear, and registrars and registries are in a better position to take action on online abuses."

As a celebration of the newly named NetBeacon Institute and a way to spread the word about the free and accessible resources the Institute provides to keep users safe, the Institute is sponsoring a dedicated day for a DNS Abuse workshop with ICANN in Paris, May 8, 2024 following the ICANN Contracted Parties Summit.

Read more about the Institute and its mission at www.netbeacon.org.

About NetBeacon Institute

The NetBeacon Institute is tasked with creating outcomes-based initiatives that will drive recommended practices, foster collaboration, and develop industry-shared solutions to combat the five areas of DNS Abuse: malware, botnets, phishing, pharming, and related spam. The Institute was founded in 2021 by Public Interest Registry, the registry operator for the .ORG top-level domain.

Contact: Grace Peacore, pir@berlinrosen.com

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