Connecting the Dots: From Single Abuse Reports to Domain Ecosystems
By Rick Hansen, CTO | Article publication date: 30 April 2025.
As we continue to refine how online harms are detected and addressed, it is increasingly clear that a single abuse report, while important, rarely represents an isolated incident. Most forms of DNS abuse exist as part of broader patterns, clusters, or infrastructure maintained by threat actors who are quick to adapt and evolve. At CleanDNS, we have been focused on shifting the abuse mitigation process from one that is reactive, to one that is also inherently exploratory and anticipatory. This article explores how we utilize a pivot process from one reported domain or URL to identify potential domain ecosystems using technical correlation methods grounded in evidence, creating a foundation for scalable, high-confidence action and mitigation.
The cybersecurity landscape is ever evolving and always moving faster. Every day, threat actors spin up new domains, tweak their tactics, and find novel ways to stay just one step ahead. At CleanDNS, we’ve been watching this cat-and-mouse game for years, and we’ve built tools to help you catch more mice, faster.
One of the most powerful tools in our technical stack is what we call CleanDNS Pivot. It’s designed to go beyond the initial abuse report and determine the broader patterns connecting that first indicator (red flag) to other related domains, patterns, and infrastructure. The outcome? To not just respond, but investigate, understand, and mitigate more harms at a far more extensive level.
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Why Our Independence Matters A quick but important point: CleanDNS is an independent abuse mitigation company. That means we are not tied to a registrar, registry, host, or enforcement body. Our data and analysis are focused purely on one thing, giving you objective, actionable intelligence.
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URL Findings: Uncovering Abuse Infrastructure
Perhaps the most compelling results of this approach come from examining what lies beyond the domain name itself. Specifically, the site URLs and page behaviors.
During the analysis, many of the visually- and naming-similar domains shared consistent URL structures that were not publicized through normal web navigation. Paths such as /login and /account appear repeatedly across multiple domains, often accompanied by identical query string patterns.
Such consistency is a hallmark of templated phishing kits or shared backend infrastructure. Even when minor content edits were made to differentiate pages, the backend structure, the “path skeleton”, remained the same. These findings strengthen the case that the domains are operationally related, not just coincidentally similar.
Additionally, some domains hosted obfuscated JavaScript files and IFRAME redirects pointing to external credential harvesting sites. By correlating these artifacts, our system builds a broader, evidence-backed case that links a single abusive report to multiple operational nodes; increasing the chance of disrupting entire campaigns rather than isolated endpoints.
Visual Similarity: Detecting Abuse Beyond the Name
When a domain is reported our first step is to capture a live screenshot of the site. The image is then processed using difference hashing (dHash), a method that analyzes the relationships between adjacent pixel values rather than relying on exact color information. This sequence of comparisons creates a compact binary fingerprint (hash) that captures the essential visual structure of the image. Because it focuses on relative pixel intensity changes rather than absolute values, dHash is highly resilient to minor alterations such as resizing, compression artifacts, or slight color shifts. By applying dHash to screenshots, CleanDNS can quickly and reliably detect sites that maintain the same visual layout or branding, even if they have been subtly modified, enabling the identification of cloned phishing templates or reused malicious infrastructure that would otherwise evade traditional domain or metadata analysis.
Despite clear differences in the domain names, using this technique allows CleanDNS to focus more on the content and structure of the site rather than just simply relying on naming conventions. By focusing on what the user sees and interacts with, rather than just the domain name itself, CleanDNS can uncover operational linkages that would otherwise remain hidden.
Conclusion: Pivoting Smarter, Acting Sooner
The shift from single-point abuse response to ecosystem detection marks a major evolution in DNS harm mitigation. By focusing on real, observable similarities in how sites look, how they are named, and how they behave, CleanDNS can connect abuse dots faster and more reliably.
This broader, technical approach means that one domain report doesn’t just end with one takedown. It initiates a structured discovery process that surfaces related domains, strengthens investigative context, and ultimately drives quicker, more defensible action against bad actors.
As the online threat landscape continues to evolve, so must our detection and mitigation strategies. CleanDNS Pivot allows you to move from static responses to dynamic, evidence-led ecosystems of disruption.
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For questions about CleanDNS’ actionable, affordable, streamlined solution for abuse management and online harm mitigation, contact our team to learn more.