Identifying threat patterns, sharing best practices, and successfully combatting abuse in the Domain Name System (DNS) – these are the objectives of the cooperation between the independent IT security institute and long-standing association member AV-Test and the topDNS initiative of eco – Association of the Internet Industry. As part of this collaboration, monthly reports on abuse levels on the Internet are published under the name “topDNS Report: Monthly Analysis for ISPs”. The goal is to create a reliable and long-term data foundation, particularly for Internet Service Providers (ISPs), but also for the professional public.
The reports examine the occurrence of Uniform Resource Locators (URLs) at the level of the Autonomous System Number (ASN) that are used for malware distribution, phishing campaigns and other Potentially Unwanted Applications (PUAs). These regular analyses create a fact-based foundation designed to help ISPs identify developments and patterns at an early stage and initiate appropriate countermeasures.
The monthly reports are designed not only to document current trends and developments, but also to enable long-term comparability. In future, they will be supplemented by practical best practices and thematic focal points, each highlighting a specific aspect of DNS abuse. Through systematic and continuous data collection, a reliable situational picture will emerge that creates transparency and strengthens exchange within the industry.
Thomas Rickert, Director of Names & Numbers at eco, says: “The topDNS initiative works closely with other initiatives such as the NetBeacon Institute to improve the exchange of data used to reduce online abuse. Therefore, this report therefore complements the also monthly ‘NetBeacon MAP: Monthly Analysis’ report, which provides detailed statistics and data for domain name registries and registrars, by adding the ISP dimension.”
The reports from this year are now available to the general public. They can be accessed via the following link: https://topdns.eco.de/topdns-reports/
