Why?
The stable, safe and secure operation of the DNS has proven to be the foundation for the global expansion of the Internet as a universal public resource. However, like any other innovation and every technology, the Internet and the DNS are vulnerable to abuse, such as malware, botnets, phishing, pharming or spam. The topDNS initiative and its members are committed to fighting DNS abuse.
How?
To achieve this goal, the topDNS initiative rests on two main pillars:
Education & Awareness
- Promoting existing efforts to fight abuse online
- Educating policy & decision makers
- Involving hosting providers and their abuse teams
- Amplifying the messages of the industry
Collaboration & Operationalisation
- Collaboration with eco, a trusted Internet platform
- Sharing best-practice guidance on abuse management
- Standardising reports, use cases, data & definitions
- Developing a Trusted Notifier Framework
Sponsors
Among the many eco members who are fighting abuse on the Internet every day, we would like to thank our sponsors of the topDNS Initiative.
Please email topdns@eco.de if you are interested in joining!
Steering Committee
The topDNS Initiative is lead and guided by a group of leading industry experts:
Director of Outreach
Cloudflare
Vice President, General Counsel
Public Interest Registry
VP of Policy & Government Relations
Verisign
Chief Technology Officer
IQ Global
CIPP/E Privacy & GRC Officer
Realtime Register
Head of Policy and Compliance – Online Division
Team Internet
Competence Lead DNS & Domain Abuse
SWITCH
CEO
nic.at
Supporters
In addition to the sponsors of the topDNS Initiative, many eco members actively support our work fighting abuse and content-related harms on the Internet.
Please email topdns@eco.de if you are interested in joining!
News & Articles
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ICANN Publishes New Step-by-Step Guide for Submitting DNS Abuse Complaints
The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) has released a new Step-by-Step Guide: Submitting DNS Abuse Complaints, designed to help Internet users, security professionals, and stakeholders understand when and how to report Domain Name System (DNS) Abuse to ICANN Contractual Compliance. The guide is available on ICANN’s DNS…
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Domain & Emails: Strengthening Your Digital Presence
Gherardo Varani, Head of Business Development at Freename, discusses the essential role of domain and email security in fostering business growth. With the increasing frequency of cyberattacks, businesses must adopt innovative strategies that integrate traditional methods with decentralized technologies for comprehensive protection.
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Fighting DNS Abuse Globally: Insights from the 2025 Abuse Workshop at Nordic Domain Days
At the 2025 Nordic Domain Days Abuse Workshop, eco’s Thomas Rickert and global experts called for unified, cross-sector collaboration, legal harmonization, and automation to combat DNS abuse – moving beyond silos toward a resilient, trust-based ecosystem.
Events
ICANN OCTO ISPCP/SSAC: Emerging DNS Abuse Trends and Mitigation Strategies
ICANN85 Mumbai Community Forum
Nordic Domain days 2026
Videos
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topDNS Best Practice Series: Applying the DTSP Safe Framework to Hosting, Registries, and Registrars: From Compliance to Operational Maturity
On 4 February 2026, eco’s topDNS Initiative, in cooperation with the Digital Trust & Safety Partnership (DTSP), hosted the first topDNS Best Practice webinar of 2026 (the 11th session overall), focusing on how infrastructure providers can apply the DTSP Safe Framework (ISO/IEC 25389) to strengthen trust and safety practices beyond…
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topDNS Best Practice Series: How is DNS Abuse actually measured
eco’s topDNS Initiative, in cooperation with KOR Labs, NetBeacon Institute, and URLAbuse, hosted the tenth in a series of topDNS Best Practice webinars, exploring how DNS abuse is actually measured and what that means for improving mitigation across the domain industry. The session brought together experts Prof. Maciej Korczynski (KOR…
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topDNS Best Practice Series Part 9: Navigating Web3 Domains
On 2 April 2025, Freename & eco’s topDNS Initiative hosted the ninth in a series of topDNS Best Practice webinars. In the Navigating Web3 Domains webinar, Paolo Domenighetti, CTO of Freename, gave an introduction to the emerging landscape of Web3 domains, highlighting their differences from legacy domains, their potential use…
