The DNS Abuse Institute (DNSAI), the entity created by Public Interest Registry (PIR), today announced the launch of NetBeacon, a centralized DNS Abuse reporting service. NetBeacon was developed in collaboration with CleanDNS, an anti-abuse solution developer, which has donated the development and technology behind NetBeacon.

Historically, DNS abuse reporting has been confusing and inconsistent, leading to misdirected reports or a lack of necessary evidence for registrars to take action, says Graeme Bunton, Director of the DNS Abuse Institute. “NetBeacon not only helps registrar partners effectively address DNS Abuse on the back-end but also provides an opportunity to publicly illustrate a commitment to Internet safety for all users.”

From today’s annoucement:

NetBeacon will be publicly available free of charge for anyone to easily submit or receive reports of DNS Abuse—which includes harmful Internet activities such as malware, botnets, phishing, and spam. Streamlining what has long been a manual, slow, and convoluted investigatory process, NetBeacon will collect standardized reports of DNS Abuse, enrich them with useful information for registrars, and route reports through the appropriate channels.

NetBeacon’s core functions are designed to make it easier for registrars to receive and process abuse claims. By providing a single venue with standardized fields and evidence requirements, NetBeacon aims to improve the quality of reports. Each report will include fields for the domain in question, the type of abuse, a description of abuse, date of abuse, and any additional evidence.