CAUCE

Domain Name Registration Data at the Crossroads

New Report Shows Widespread Issues with Domain Name System Registration Accountability
Urgent Actions Required To Respond to Growing Online COVID-Themed Scams and Phishing Attacks

BOSTON, MA - Today, Interisle Consulting Group, a leading organization on the frontlines of cybersecurity issues, released a new report, Domain Name Registration Data at the Crossroads: The State of Data Protection, Compliance, and Contactability at ICANN. This study reveals widespread problems with access to and the reliability of domain name registration data systems (WHOIS). These failures have real-life security implications, which are being seen in the current wave of cybercrime accompanying the COVID-19 pandemic.

Across the Internet, everyone from individual consumers to advocacy groups to law enforcement agencies use domain registration information for vital purposes, including security scanning, problem-solving, and to provide legal and social accountability. “The COVID-19 pandemic has led to a recent explosion of cybercrime, with thousands of new domain names using terms like ‘covid’ or ‘corona’ being used to perpetrate spam, phishing, malware campaigns and to peddle fake products,” said Dave Piscitello, partner at Interisle Consulting Group and editor of the report. “Investigators need quick, unencumbered access to domain registration data to disrupt COVID-themed attacks before they cause losses and harm. The problems our study exposes have made that all but impossible.”

The report was designed to measure the effectiveness and impact of the registration data policies of ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers). Over the course of five months, Interisle analyzed the practices of 23 domain registrars, and how the registrars performed against five key standards. The report details how the registrars failed to meet contractual obligations and contactability goals in 40% of the cases studied, with problems in an additional 16% of cases.

“Domain registration data is supposed to be available in guaranteed, reliable ways. Unfortunately, we documented widespread failures, both technical and legal,” said Greg Aaron, the author of the study. “These problems make it hard to distinguish bad Internet actors from good, severely impacting public security. And they make it harder to communicate and solve a range of other problems, eroding trust on the Internet.”

Other findings show that access to critical registration data has been significantly curtailed over the past two years, and ICANN compliance problems. The report also recommends actions that can be taken to ensure a healthy Internet and naming system. The full report can be found at: http://interisle.net/domainregistrationdata.html .

ABOUT INTERISLE CONSULTING GROUP
Interisle Consulting Group is comprised of experienced practitioners with extensive track records in industry and academia and world class expertise in business and technology strategy, Internet technologies and governance, financial industry applications, and software design. Interisle is focused on resilient systems, networks, and organizations, and the research it conducts for clients frequently leads to insights with lasting significance. More information is available at www.interisle.net.

CAUCE Welcomes Two New Board Members - Tom Grasso and Allison Nixon

With the rapid evolution of spam and threats to consumers CAUCE has recruited two industry veterans to round out our board and continue being the consumer voice to Law Enforcement and Regulatory communities around the world.

We would like to welcome Allison Nixon, Director of Security Research at Flashpoint and Tom Grasso, Supervisory Special Agent at the FBI to the CAUCE board.

Allison is a threat researcher, verifier of leaks, and hunter of humans. She has been a background source for numerous investigations and articles that focus on the post-breach issue of "who dunnit?". She performs original threat research and is at the forefront of answering questions that people have not yet thought to ask. In 2013, she spoke at Blackhat about bypassing DDOS protection. In 2014, she released a paper detailing methods for vetting leaked data. She has been looking into the issue of "booters" and DDOS services. She researches DDOS attribution, cybercrime attribution, and criminal communities. In her spare time she grows tomatoes and makes puns.

Tom has been a FBI Agent since 1998 and has worked for the FBI’s Regional Computer Crime Squad in Chicago and the High Technology Crimes Task Force in Pittsburgh. He has also served as the FBI Liaison to the CERT/CC at Carnegie Mellon University. Mr. Grasso is now part of the FBI’s Cyber Division and is assigned to the National Cyber-Forensics and Training Alliance (NCFTA) in Pittsburgh, a joint partnership between law enforcement, academia, and industry. Mr. Grasso is also an Adjunct Professor of Criminology at La Roche College in Pittsburgh.

It goes without saying that we are all very excited with these additions.

CAUCE, M3AAWG, and LAP publish Operation Safety-Net

CAUCE is proud to announce the publication of the new Operation Safety-Net. This document is intended for business and government leaders (but interesting to anyone), and contains 60 pages of clear and readable advice. It addresses best practices for online, mobile, and telephony threats.

CAUCE executive director Neil Schwartzman led the effort as part of the steering committee with peers from M³AAWG and Industry Canada. President John Levine provided technical content on DNS and IP address threats.

Download a copy here

M³AAWG press release

LAP press release

CASL Draws Third Blood

Plentyoffish Media Inc. pays $48,000 for alleged violation of Canada's anti-spam law

March 25, 2015 – Ottawa–Gatineau – Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC)

The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) today announced that Plentyoffish Media Inc. has paid $48,000 as part of an undertaking for an alleged violation of Canada’s anti-spam legislation.

Acting on complaints submitted by Canadians, the CRTC’s Chief Compliance and Enforcement Officer launched an investigation. Plentyoffish Media had allegedly sent commercial emails to registered users of the Plenty of Fish online dating service with an unsubscribe mechanism that was not clearly and prominently set out, and which could not be readily performed, as required by the legislation. The emails sent by Plentyoffish Media notified users of services available through their registration to the dating site. The alleged violation occurred between July 1, 2014 and October 8, 2014.

Once made aware of the investigation by the CRTC, Plentyoffish Media updated its unsubscribe mechanism to comply with the legislation.

As part of the undertaking, Plentyoffish Media will develop and implement a compliance program to ensure that its activities are compliant with Canada’s anti-spam legislation. The compliance program will include training and education for staff and corporate policies and procedures.

The CRTC is assessing all complaints submitted to the Spam Reporting Centre that are under its mandate and a number of investigations are currently underway. The CRTC is working with its partners, both within Canada and internationally, to protect Canadians from online threats and contribute to a more secure online environment.

The CRTC can discuss corrective actions with individuals, firms or organizations, which may lead to an undertaking that includes an amount to be paid and other corrective measures. As part of its powers, the CRTC can also issue warning letters, preservation demands, notices to produce, restraining orders and notices of violation.

Canadians are encouraged to report spam to the Spam Reporting Centre. The information sent to the Centre is used by the CRTC, the Competition Bureau, and the Office of the Privacy Commissioner to enforce Canada’s anti-spam law.

Quick Facts

• Plentyoffish Media has entered into an undertaking with the CRTC’s Chief Compliance and Enforcement Officer, under which the company has paid $48,000 for alleged non-compliance with Canada’s anti-spam legislation.
• Plentyoffish Media allegedly sent commercial emails to registered users of its online dating site that did not contain an unsubscribe mechanism that was set out clearly and prominently, and that could be readily performed.
• Once made aware of the investigation by the CRTC, Plentyoffish Media updated its unsubscribe mechanism to comply with the legislation.
• To help Canadian businesses comply with the law, the CRTC has provided numerous information sessions across the country and made guidance materials available on its website.
• The CRTC is working with its partners, both within Canada and internationally, to protect Canadians from online threats and contribute to a more secure online environment.
• Canada’s anti-spam legislation protects Canadians while ensuring that businesses can continue to compete in the global marketplace.
• Canada’s anti-spam legislation was adopted by Parliament in December 2010 and came into force on July 1, 2014.

“Prior to the coming into force of Canada's anti-spam law, the CRTC conducted numerous outreach sessions and issued guidance material on interpretation of the new requirements. Plentyoffish Media erred by sending commercial electronic messages to its registered users with unsubscribe mechanisms that were not in compliance with the law.

This case is an important reminder to businesses that they need to review their unsubscribe mechanisms to ensure they are clearly and prominently set out and can be readily performed. We appreciate that Plentyoffish Media changed its practices once it became aware of the problem. The CRTC encourages Canadians to continue to report suspected violations to the Spam Reporting Centre.”
Manon Bombardier, Chief Compliance and Enforcement Officer

Port25 Solutions Sponsors the Inbox Project

CAUCE, the Coalition Against Unsolicited Commercial E-mail, and the Cornell Law School's Legal Information Institute (LII) are pleased to welcome Port25 Solutions as the newest sponsor of the Inbox Project, http://www.inboxproject.org/.

Coverage of CASL Coming Into Force July 01, 2014

Government of Canada Announcement - Harper Government Delivers on Commitment to Protect Canadian Consumers from Spam

Backgrounder : Building Consumer Trust in the Online Marketplace

Industry Canada #CASL Regulations Published

Industry Canada #CASL Regulatory Impact Analysis Statement

Canada: Six month 'scramble' to comply with anti-spam law - Privacy This Week

Shaun Brown at nNovation Industry Canada finalizes regulations under CASL

INDUSTRY GREETS CASL WITH RELIEF, BUT BIG CHALLENGES REMAIN Matt Vernhout quoted

Canada’s Anti-Spam Law is a Done Deal Dennis Dayman at Deliverability.com

CASL Will Take Effect July 2014 Clea Manchester at Return Path

Imagine Canada Applauds Anti-spam Exemption for Charities - Imagine Canada

CMA welcomes anti-spam rules - Canadian Marketing Association

The Canadian Anti-Spam Legislation (CASL) returns - Responsys

New Anti-spam Rules Remain a Concern for the Canadian Business Community - Canadian Chamber of Commerce

Canada’s New Anti-Spam Legislation: Impact on Retailers - Retail Council December 11, 2013

Update: How Anti-Spam Laws Will Affect Your Business - Profitguide December 11, 2013

Winter … I mean CASL is coming! - Digital Spin December 11, 2013

The Ten Million Dollar Spam Law - EmailSkinny

Canada’s Anti-SPAM Law Coming Into Force June 2014 - LisTrak

So It’s Settled Then – Canadian Anti Spam Law Finalized - Informz

The waiting game is over: Canada's Anti-Spam legislation will change the e-communication landscape - Blake Cassels & Graydon LLP

Canada’s Anti-Spam Law to Come into Force on July 1, 2014 – Time to Get Ready! bennettjones

Canada announces CASL regulation start date @#wordtothewise #CASL

Canada’s Anti Spam Law is (finally) coming into force - eloqua

Tired of unsolicited spam? Relief is on the way - Globe and Mail

Canada passes world's toughest anti-spam law - IT News Australia

Federal anti-spam law comes into effect this July, minister says - The Canadian Press

6 Month Countdown To Canada’s Anti-Spam Legislation (CASL) - Margot Patterson | Dentons JDSupra Law News

Canada finalizes anti-spam regulations; new anti-spam rules in effect July 2014 - David Elder, Stikeman Elliott LLP

The government of Canada has announced that the majority of Canada’s anti-spam legislation (CASL) will enter into force on July 1, 2014 - Margot E. Patterson and Timothy Banks, Dentons

Canada’s anti-spam law is coming – are you ready? - Charles S. Morgan and Puneet Soni, McCarthy Tétrault LLP

Industry Canada announces Canada's anti-spam legislation to finally come into force on July 1, 2014 - Fasken Martineau LLP

Canada Adopts Final Regulations, Announces Expansive Anti-Spam Law Will Start Taking Effect July 1, 2014 | Davis Wright Tremaine LLP

UAB’s Gary Warner Receives M3AAWG J.D. Falk Award

UAB’s Gary Warner Receives M3AAWG J.D. Falk Award for Developing Collaborative Cybersecurity Education Program

M³AAWG 29^th General Meeting, Montreal, Oct. 23, 2013 – One person’s passion, insight and behind-the-scenes resolve has given rise to a new approach to training 21^st century “digital detectives” who can better identify cybercrime and protect end-users. Gary Warner has developed the University of Alabama’s Center for Information Assurance and Joint Forensics Research into a multi-dimensional educational program that has successfully collaborated with law enforcement and the industry in fighting real-world email and Internet threats.  Recognizing his accomplishments, the Messaging, Malware and Mobile Anti-Abuse Working Group today presented Warner its annual J.D. Falk Award for innovative work contributing to the good of the online community.

“Cybercrime criminals are well equipped and fairly blatant. Yet there are few academic programs out there teaching cyber-forensics and anti-abuse work.  Gary Warner has made it his life’s work to develop a graduate degree in computer forensics that, from the ground up, emphasizes the strategic thinking and experience-based knowledge needed to detect malicious behavior and block threats.  By educating a new breed of security expert, his work is also ensuring a safer Internet for future generations,” said Chris Roosenraad, M³AAWG Co-Chairman.

Warner, UAB’s Director of Research in Computer Forensics, takes a pragmatic approach to online security and his commitment to protecting the Internet goes back to the early 1990s when, as a young computer scientist, he began volunteering long hours to fighting viruses because, as he said at the time, “our field is putting users all over the world at risk and it’s my responsibility as a computer guy to make sure the tools we made aren’t harming people.”

Today he tells his students, “If your research isn’t going to help stop crime or help protect consumers and companies from real world cyber threats, it’s not research I want to do in my lab.” As a result, the Center’s reports have been instrumental in analyzing spear phishing campaigns, detecting fraudulent advertisers, and identifying computers covertly sending spam that appeared to be from financial institutions or federal agencies such as the FBI, the IRS and the Social Security Administration.  It also contributed to the takedown of Koobface, a computer worm targeting social media users.

Established in 2011, the Center involves professors, students and industry partners from diverse disciplines who collaborate on its stated goal of “making the world a safer place for citizens of the 21st century.”  It primarily focuses on computer forensics, classical wet chemistry forensics, image processing and natural language processing forensics.  Started as a “broom closet” lab with two students, Warner has overseen its growth into an important industry resource of 40 researchers with five professors who are making concrete contributions to safeguarding end-users.

Among current research projects, the Center is looking at malicious voice- and video-over-Internet (VoIP) malware that can access confidential information on users’ devices.  It also is researching malware that can be triggered by hidden messages – undetectable to humans – in music, videos or light from a TV.

Graduates of the program are now part of cyber investigation teams identifying and combating bots, DDoS attacks and other threats at government law enforcement agencies such as the FBI, the CIA and the U.S. State Department.  The industry’s largest Internet firms and financial institutions have hired its students.  Warner has also co-founded the anti-phishing and cyber-intelligence start-up Malcovery Security based on the Center’s pioneering research.

The J.D. Falk Award is named after a founding member of M³AAWG who was passionate about safeguarding the Internet, end-user security and the value of collaborative work.  It recognizes individuals for specific achievements that enhance the Internet experience, protect end-users, and embody his spirit of volunteerism and community building.  The 2013 award was presented at the opening session of the M³AAWG 29^th General Meeting in Montreal. The four-day meeting, held jointly with the London Action Plan, was attended by 400 security experts from around the globe.

FBI Agent Thomas X. Grasso Receives First J.D. Falk Award

News Release

For Immediate Release        

FBI Agent Thomas X. Grasso Receives First J.D. Falk Award
for Establishing DNS Changer Working Group and Protecting End-Users

Baltimore, Maryland, Oct. 25, 2012 – Convincing competitors, disparate business entities and researchers to collaborate – many donating their services and resources – to protect millions of end-users worldwide is no small feat. Yet FBI Supervisory Special Agent Thomas X. Grasso did just that by quietly working behind the scenes to create the DNS Changer Working Group that saved an inestimable number of end-users from losing access to the Web over the last two years.  Recognizing his leadership, Grasso received the inaugural J.D. Falk award on Tuesday at the Messaging, Malware and Mobile Anti-Abuse Working Group 26^th General Meeting in Baltimore.

 

The first-annual J.D. Falk Award

“Tom embodies the kind of personal sense of responsibility and accountability that built the Internet and is vital to its future growth.  First, he had the foresight to understand the problem and to realize that something could be done to prevent it.  Then it took an enormous commitment of his time and energy to muster the resources and bring dissimilar entities together to accomplish an objective that turned out to be a critical issue for many end-users,” said M³AAWG Co-Chairman Chris Roosenraad.

 

Grasso created the ad hoc committee based on the relationships and goodwill he had developed over his 12 years working with the Internet industry.  He persuaded large corporations to commit time and funds to notify infected customers, and convinced anti-virus vendors, Internet Service Providers and the security research community to cooperate in the project.  DCWG members include Georgia Tech, Internet Systems Consortium, Mandiant, National Cyber-Forensics and Training Alliance, Neustar, Spamhaus, Team Cymru, Trend Micro and others.

In November 2011, the FBI’s Operation Ghost Click led to the arrest of six Estonians allegedly behind the distribution of the DNS Changer malware and thought to be operating the illicit Rove Digital advertising network. The malware hijacked Internet searches and re-routed Web browsers of infected computers to fraudulent sites on Rove Digital’s network by altering the DNS settings the computers use to locate websites. Once the rogue servers were turned off, the malware-infected computers that had their settings redirected to them would not have been able to reach the Web.  

The DNS Changer Working Group was Grasso’s idea to encourage end-user remediation of the malware and to respond to the massive challenge of potentially millions of users losing access to the Web. The group helped monitor the DNS servers that were now legally operated by the Internet Systems Consortium (ISC) under a court order, and as a result, the infected users received a useful message to clean up their machines instead of suddenly dropping off the Internet. 

“The FBI recognizes the invaluable assistance the private sector and academia provided through the DNS Changer Working Group,” said Joseph M. Demarest, assistant director of the FBI’s Cyber Division.

CAUCE founding member J.D. Falk, an active member of M³AAWG and many other industry organizations, was passionate about safeguarding the Internet, end-user security and the impact of cooperative endeavors. The award named after him recognizes individuals for specific achievements that enhance the Internet experience, protect end-users, and embody his spirit of volunteerism and community building. It is administered by M³AAWG with the support of Falk’s employer Return Path Inc. and the Falk family.

MAAWG Honors Internet Volunteer Neil Schwartzman With First MAAWG Mary Litynski Award

News Release

For Immediate Release        

 

MAAWG Honors Internet Volunteer Neil Schwartzman

With First MAAWG Mary Litynski Award

San Francisco, June 16, 2011 – Recognizing the value of one person’s effort to generate positive change in the messaging industry, the Messaging Anti-Abuse Working Group presented its first annual MAAWG Mary Litynski Award to Neil Schwartzman at its 22^nd general meeting on June 8 in San Francisco.  The award acknowledged Schwartzman’s extensive volunteer efforts working against spam for the last twenty years, and the presentation can be viewed on the MAAWG YouTube channel at http://www.youtube.com/MAAWG?feature=mhee

A messaging compliance consultant, Schwartzman has served on the Canadian Federal Task Force on Spam and is a founding member and currently executive director of CAUCE, the Coalition Against Unsolicited Commercial Email, an international all-volunteer consumer advocacy organization working to defend the interests of the average Internet user.  He is secretary of the MAAWG Public Policy Committee and involved in several of the association’s other projects, and is active in other industry organizations including the London Action Plan (LAP) and the Anti-Phishing Working Group (APWG).  Schwartzman also worked toward the passage of the new Canada Anti-Spam Law (CASL).

“Neil reminds us that backing down from the challenge of messaging abuse is not an option for those committed to maintaining an open and effective Internet.  He brings energy and expertise to our community, with a passion and concern that rises above his own personal interests,” MAAWG Chairman Michael O’Reirdan said.

According to Schwartzman, “Industry collaboration is the only way, to my mind, that we can effectively deal with spam. There is no silver bullet. A unified strategy involving cross-sector industrial cooperation, technologists and public policy advisors – providing a seat at the table for all stakeholders – is the proven way forward.”

The award was named for Mary Litynski, who worked tirelessly to serve MAAWG members since the organization’s founding in 2004 and who passed away in 2010 after a courageous battle with cancer.  The honor was initiated in her memory this year to recognize an unsung industry hero who also works behind the scenes to make the Internet a safer place for all.

About the Messaging Anti-Abuse Working Group (MAAWG)

The Messaging Anti-Abuse Working Group (MAAWG) is where the messaging industry comes together to work against spam, viruses, denial-of-service attacks and other online exploitation. MAAWG (www.maawg.org) represents more than one billion mailboxes from some of the largest network operators worldwide. It is the only organization addressing messaging abuse holistically by systematically engaging all aspects of the problem, including technology, industry collaboration and public policy. MAAWG leverages the depth and experience of its global membership to tackle abuse on existing networks and new emerging services. It also works to educate global policy makers on the technical and operational issues related to online abuse and messaging. Headquartered in San Francisco, Calif., MAAWG is an open forum driven by market needs and supported by major network operators and messaging providers.

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Media Contact: Linda Marcus, APR, 714-974-6356, [email protected], Astra Communications

MAAWG Board of Directors: AOL; AT&T (NYSE: T); Cloudmark, Inc.; Comcast (NASDAQ: CMCSA); Cox Communications; Facebook; France Telecom (NYSE and Euronext: FTE); Openwave Systems (NASDAQ: OPWV); PayPal; Return Path; Tata Communications (NYSE: TCL); Time Warner Cable; Verizon Communications; and Yahoo! Inc.

MAAWG Full Members: 1&1 Internet AG; Adaptive Mobile Security LTD; Apple Inc.; Cisco Systems, Inc.; Constant Contact (CTCT); Edatis; e-Dialog; Eloqua; Email Sender and Provider Coalition; Experian CheetahMail; Genius.com; Internet Initiative Japan, (IIJ NASDAQ: IIJI); McAfee Inc.; Message Systems; Scality; Spamhaus; Sprint; Symantec; Trend Micro, Inc.; and YouSendIt.

A complete member list is available at http://www.maawg.org/about/roster

CAUCE Director Neil Schwartzman Wins Prestigious MAAWG Award

CAUCE Executive Director Neil Schwartzman won the prestigious Mary Litynski award on June 08, 2011 for his contributions to Internet anti-abuse efforts, including the passage of Canada's Anti-Spam Law. Here is his acceptance speech.

This is not the first award I've received from the MAAWG community. A few years ago, at a meeting in Washington, D.C., I received an honorary doctorate when recognized me as Dr. Evil. At the past meeting, at Disney, you honored me with a t-shirt branding me as Grumpy, from the Seven Dwarves.

As much as I treasure those memories, this award is very special to me.

Mary Lytinski was a warm, helpful, friendly person. It is nice to see that MAAWG is applying these criteria when deciding a suitable winner of the award in her name.

Seeing Mary at the registration desk was our opening ritual three times a year, and her greeting -- no matter how busy -- told every attendee that this was going to be a good meeting. Mary's contribution to our community and our cause cannot be measured.

I can’t begin to express my gratitude for this award, named in honor of our old friend; I am profoundly humbled, particularly when we consider the roster of others in our community undeniably as deserving of recognition.

My contributions to the Internet community, like that of so many others, began as a volunteer. To some, that might be a puzzling thing, to do something without financial recompense. To others, most in this room, it is the most natural thing of all.

There are a number of reasons why I try to embody a spirit of volunteerism. For one, my mother volunteered her time throughout her life. She undoubtedly passed this aspect on to me.

When I got online in 1992, the net was largely non-commercial. There was no world wide web. It was all about text, and community spirit, and volunteered contributions. Even when employees of a commercial entity worked on standards or software, it was with humility and a sense of collaboration, of building the Internet together.

The commercialization of the net has brought with it some astounding, wonderful new technologies and contributions to our global society. I am able to write to my friend, one of the happiest people I’ve ever met, a peasant girl named Shandy, who lives in rural China, because she has a Hotmail account. A far-flung community was able to express our love and support for our friend and colleague J.D. Falk, by way of Facebook, and email, and AOL Instant Messaging. Perhaps most profoundly, an offshoot of Google, 23andme, allowed me to reconcile with my biological mother, sister and brother, this past weekend after 50 years.

These are the things that motivate me to voluntarily advocate for the anti-abuse community. Because along with all these commercial offerings, there is still a fundamental, precious human element, a drawing together of the global village that criminals, if we let them, would rend asunder. There is still real, honest human communication -- that abusers sully. This human element is the magic intrinsic to the Internet, and something that must be protected. It isn’t just about email systems being spammed, and websites under ddos. It is what they represent -- the people, the data, and the ability to communicate -- that we strive to protect.

The DNA of the Internet, the vast majority of underlying technologies and protocols, were dreamt up and realized by volunteers. Grassroots, volunteer anti-abuse efforts such as my organization, CAUCE, many of the DNSBLs, discussion groups -- all manner of efforts to stave off the wolves at the door, nearly all done on a voluntary basis or as a contribution to the community.

And then there’s MAAWG.

While most of us are paid to be here, involvement in MAAWG can take up a tremendous amount of time. It often encroaches into one’s personal life, or one’s ability to accomplish the balance of our paid work, in effect, MAAWG is very much run by people volunteering of their time, expertise and brilliance.

And so, I accept this award on behalf of all the volunteers past, present and future, my peers and my betters, with the hopes that our work is properly honouring the person for whom this award is named, our dear departed Mary Litynski.

Thank you.