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CleanDNS 2024 Engagement Recap

CleanDNS 2024 Engagement Recap

Welcome to the CleanDNS 2024 Engagement Recap! Our team started 2024 with the same New Year’s resolution as always: make the Internet a better, safer place by mitigating online harms and reducing victimization. As we reflect on the past year, we are proud to see all the work that has been done to move towards this goal.

2024 was an especially exciting year for the CleanDNS team. We started the springtime by celebrating the pseudo-birthday of CleanDNS during ICANN79 in Puerto Rico, with the launch of the DNS Abuse Amendments soon following. From there, we set off for a summer of international forums, conferences, and workshops, where our team members had the chance to collaborate with other industry leaders on abuse management and online harms best practices. With autumn, we continued to expand our dedicated team of Disruptors, and held our annual all-hands meeting where we brainstormed technological advancements in rooting out online harms, such as our state-of-the-art evidence categorization technique and streamlined initiatives. These key advancements continue to make CleanDNS your one-stop-shop for mitigating online harms and managing abuse. The winter months were full of cross-industry collaborative efforts, where we continue to emphasize the importance of sharing knowledge to reduce victimization of online harms.

Looking to 2025, the pipeline of new efforts within our mission continues to grow, and we continue to be excited by the new clients and partners joining our efforts. We are extremely proud of what we do and want to thank all of you from the bottom of our hearts, and as always, for joining us in Cleaning Up the Internet for Good.

New Phish on the Block

Cybercriminals are smart – as Disruptors, we must be smarter. As the tactics of cybercrime continue to shift and evolve, so too must online harm evidencing and mitigation techniques. We’re not just talking phony package tracking and fake free gift card schemes anymore; take a look at some of the frequently phished entities we saw an increase in this year that you may not expect:

  • Online gaming software marketplaces
  • Movie and television streaming services
  • Sports betting and gambling platforms
  • Short-form video social media platforms
  • Discount vacation accommodation services
  • Document signature services

What in the Word?

Some of the most frequent words we saw in mitigated domain strings included:

Rectangles displaying the following text: SUPPORT, POST, LOCATE, HELP, LOCATION, DIRECT, TRACK, INFO, VERIFY, FIND

Roadmap and Milestones

2024 was a whirlwind year of growth for CleanDNS! Take a look at some of the highlights below:

21+ Industry Engagement and Events
Our team attended a wide array of workshops, forums, and conferences throughout the past year, including our training seminar at APTLD in Goa, discussing ccTLD online harm management at the CENTR Tech Jamboree, and participating the SSAC and GAC joint session on the DNS Abuse Amendments during ICANN81.

18 Newly Integrated Reporters and Sources
CleanDNS emphasizes an evidence-based approach to abuse mitigation, and we were proud to add a range of new Reporters and sources from around the world adding to our library of well-evidenced and unique abuse report sources.

Dedicated to Trust and Security: SOC 2 Type II Compliant
SOC 2 Type II compliance exemplifies an organization’s commitment to their customer’s trust and is a major milestone towards improving their overall security posture. By achieving SOC 2 Type II compliance, CleanDNS has shown our ongoing commitment to security across our platform and company. This certification further demonstrates that security and standards are continuously at the forefront of everything we do.

Facilitating Compliance with New DNS Abuse Amendments
The new DNS Abuse Amendments went live in April of 2025, and CleanDNS is committed to ensuring our partners, both current and future, seamlessly comply with these changes.  Read our article on the ICANN RA/RAA amendments and how CleanDNS supports streamlined compliance for your organization.

Fostering Cross-Industry Collaboration
Teamwork, knowledge-sharing, and collaboration is key in the fight against online harms and DNS Abuse. Our cross-industry efforts this year included the Secure Internet Pledge with our friends at Abusix, the i2Coalition Secure Hosting Alliance Anti-Abuse Workshop Webinar, and more as we continue to encourage best practices in abuse management.

Celebrating the Birthplace of CleanDNS
Seven years ago during a previous ICANN meeting, the idea for what would eventually become CleanDNS was born in Old San Juan, Puerto Rico. Recognizing a critical gap in the industry and a need for systemized, customizable process to mitigate and manage online harms and DNS abuse, ideas flowed over good food and drinks between good company. Now, seven years later, we are thrilled to celebrate with our friends, colleagues, clients, and partners at the place where it all began.

The Road Ahead

2025 is full of exciting prospects, advancements, and events to come.
Some things on the horizon include:

  • Advancing evidence capabilities and abuse pattern detection
  • Cutting-edge automation possibilities
  • Policy research on evidencing wide ranges of online harms
  • Global industry events, partnerships, and collaborations

Stay Connected with CleanDNS

Can you solve our World Password Day crossword puzzle? Ever wondered how our escalation timeframes compare to the time lengths of a marathon runner? Are you staying up-to-date with the industry conversations on online harms and abuse mitigation? Connect with us on LinkedIn and Facebook to stay updated with all things CleanDNS, or join our mailing list through the form below. Feeling nostalgic? Check out our 2023 Year in Review.

New to our mission and ready to get started making the Internet a better place? Contact us to learn more about our evidence-based solution for online harm mitigation and abuse management.

Publication date: 22 January 2025.