Free Abuse Group Says URLAbuse Group Reported .TOP Registrars

Recently, an organization called URLAbuse claimed that they had reported the .TOP top-level domain registry to ICANN for failing to effectively handle cyber abuse. According to the report, ICANN issued a warning to the .TOP registry stating that they must improve their abuse handling procedures within a month or risk losing their authority to manage .TOP domains.

The notice of violation, dated July 16, 2024, highlights multiple compliance failures by .TOP registry operators, including ignoring abuse reports and failing to follow required Internet security protocols.

According to URLAbuse, they discovered multiple phishing attacks on .TOP domains and repeatedly reported these issues to .TOP's registry operator, but as of now they have not been effectively resolved. These allegations prompted URLAbuse to provide ICANN with relevant evidence and to make public screenshots of ICANN's feedback on this matter.

URLAbuse is a community organization dedicated to monitoring and reporting domain name abuse, and they provide free abuse block lists to help web users enhance their security settings. In addition, they are supported and partnered by well-known domain name service companies such as Radix, XYZ.com and Namecheap.

This incident has sparked a discussion about how domain name registries handle abuse complaints and safeguard cybersecurity, and ICANN's action demonstrates that registries that fail to address security concerns in a timely manner face serious consequences in the form of possible revocation of domain name administration privileges. As cyberattacks and abuses increase, the watchdog role of community organizations is especially important to help improve overall cybersecurity standards and compliance.