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Cybersecurity Orgs Partner to Combat Internet Abuse

Robot and human working together.

The Messaging, Malware and Mobile Anti-Abuse Working Group (M3AAWG) and Forum of Incident Response and Security Teams (FIRST) are partnering to combat growing internet abuse and cybersecurity issues, the organizations announced in a prepared statement.

Focusing on Domain Name Systems (DNS) Abuse

M3AAWG and FIRST said they will work together to develop and train abuse desk and incident response teams in best practices of Domain Name Systems (DNS) abuse and incident response. M3AAWG and FIRST cited data from ICANN, which found that DNS abuse remains a huge issue threatening the safety and security of the internet.

Both groups will collaborate on how to protect organizations and users from online abuse and messaging spam. They will also examine additional topics they can tackle, including potentially online abuse topics and related policy and emerging issues in security.

As Amy Cadigan, M3AAWG executive director, explained:

“We strongly support the mission of FIRST as it relates to the ongoing mission of M3AAWG to protect users and organizations from messaging abuse, malware and other security issues, and we look forward to collaborating and sharing expertise to amplify our efforts.”

Chris Gibson, FIRST executive director, added:

“The combination of our group’s focus on messaging abuse and incident response complements the deep expertise in M3AAWG on messaging, mobile abuse and online safety. We look forward to sharing our knowledge to develop practitioners and help protect users and companies.”

Based on its mission to fight online abuse, M3AAWG said that it has worked on a number of issues related to protecting users online. Recent guidance includes an objectionable content takedown template, protecting parked domains and brand domain protection.

More About M3AAWG and FIRST

M3AAWG) is enables cybersecurity industry professionals to work against bots, malware, spam, viruses, denial-of-service attacks and other online exploitation. M3AAWG notes that its membership represents more than one billion mailboxes from some of the largest network operators worldwide. The organization also works to educate global policy makers on the technical and operational issues related to online abuse and messaging.

FIRST aspires to bring together incident response and security teams from every country across the world to ensure a safe internet for all. Founded in 1990, FIRST consists of internet emergency response teams from over 600 corporations, government bodies, universities and other institutions across 100 countries in the Americas, Asia, Europe, Africa, and Oceania.

Jim Masters

Jim Masters is Managing Editor of MSSP Alert, and holds a B.A. degree in Journalism from Northern Illinois University. His career has spanned governmental and investigative reporting for daily newspapers in the Northwest Indiana Region and 16 years in a global internal communications role for a Fortune 500 professional services company. Additionally, he is co-owner of the Lake County Corn Dogs minor league baseball franchise, located in Crown Point, Indiana. In his spare time, he enjoys writing and recording his own music, oil painting, biking, volleyball, golf and cheering on the Corn Dogs.