ICANN or ICANT: is WHOIS an enabler of cybercrime?

Paul A. Watters; Aaron Herps; Robert Layton; Stephen McCombie

doi:10.1109/CTC.2013.13

ICANN or ICANT: is WHOIS an enabler of cybercrime?

Paul A. Watters, Aaron Herps, Robert Layton, Stephen McCombie

School of Computing

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference proceeding contribution › peer-review

13 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

WHOIS acts as a registry for organisations or individuals who 'own' or take responsibility for domains. For any registry to be functional, its integrity needs to be assured. Unfortunately, WHOIS data does not appear to meet basic integrity requirements in many cases, reducing the effectiveness of law enforcement and rightsholders in requesting takedowns for phishing kits, zombie hosts that are part of a botnet, or infringing content. In this paper, we illustrate the problem using a case study from trademark protection, where investigators attempt to trace fake goods being advertised on Facebook. The results indicate that ICANN needs to at least introduce minimum verification standards for WHOIS records vis-à-vis integrity, and optimally, develop a system for rapid takedowns in the event that a domain is being misused.

Original language	English
Title of host publication	Proceedings - 4th Cybercrime and Trustworthy Computing Workshop, CTC 2013
Place of Publication	Piscataway, NJ
Publisher	Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)
Pages	44-49
Number of pages	6
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1109/CTC.2013.13
Publication status	Published - 2014
Event	Cybercrime and Trustworthy Computing Workshop (4th : 2013) - Sydney, NSW, Australia Duration: 21 Nov 2013 → 22 Nov 2013

Other

Other	Cybercrime and Trustworthy Computing Workshop (4th : 2013)
Abbreviated title	CTC 2013
Country/Territory	Australia
City	Sydney, NSW
Period	21/11/13 → 22/11/13

Keywords

ICANN
WHOIS
policy
online advertising
intellectual property

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10.1109/CTC.2013.13

Cite this

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title = "ICANN or ICANT: is WHOIS an enabler of cybercrime?",

abstract = "WHOIS acts as a registry for organisations or individuals who 'own' or take responsibility for domains. For any registry to be functional, its integrity needs to be assured. Unfortunately, WHOIS data does not appear to meet basic integrity requirements in many cases, reducing the effectiveness of law enforcement and rightsholders in requesting takedowns for phishing kits, zombie hosts that are part of a botnet, or infringing content. In this paper, we illustrate the problem using a case study from trademark protection, where investigators attempt to trace fake goods being advertised on Facebook. The results indicate that ICANN needs to at least introduce minimum verification standards for WHOIS records vis-{\`a}-vis integrity, and optimally, develop a system for rapid takedowns in the event that a domain is being misused.",

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year = "2014",

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pages = "44--49",

booktitle = "Proceedings - 4th Cybercrime and Trustworthy Computing Workshop, CTC 2013",

publisher = "Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)",

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note = "Cybercrime and Trustworthy Computing Workshop (4th : 2013), CTC 2013 ; Conference date: 21-11-2013 Through 22-11-2013",

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Watters, PA, Herps, A, Layton, R & McCombie, S 2014, ICANN or ICANT: is WHOIS an enabler of cybercrime? in Proceedings - 4th Cybercrime and Trustworthy Computing Workshop, CTC 2013., 6754640, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), Piscataway, NJ, pp. 44-49, Cybercrime and Trustworthy Computing Workshop (4th : 2013), Sydney, NSW, Australia, 21/11/13. https://doi.org/10.1109/CTC.2013.13

ICANN or ICANT: is WHOIS an enabler of cybercrime? / Watters, Paul A.; Herps, Aaron; Layton, Robert et al.
Proceedings - 4th Cybercrime and Trustworthy Computing Workshop, CTC 2013. Piscataway, NJ: Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), 2014. p. 44-49 6754640.

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference proceeding contribution › peer-review

TY - GEN

T1 - ICANN or ICANT

T2 - Cybercrime and Trustworthy Computing Workshop (4th : 2013)

AU - Watters, Paul A.

AU - Herps, Aaron

AU - Layton, Robert

AU - McCombie, Stephen

PY - 2014

Y1 - 2014

N2 - WHOIS acts as a registry for organisations or individuals who 'own' or take responsibility for domains. For any registry to be functional, its integrity needs to be assured. Unfortunately, WHOIS data does not appear to meet basic integrity requirements in many cases, reducing the effectiveness of law enforcement and rightsholders in requesting takedowns for phishing kits, zombie hosts that are part of a botnet, or infringing content. In this paper, we illustrate the problem using a case study from trademark protection, where investigators attempt to trace fake goods being advertised on Facebook. The results indicate that ICANN needs to at least introduce minimum verification standards for WHOIS records vis-à-vis integrity, and optimally, develop a system for rapid takedowns in the event that a domain is being misused.

AB - WHOIS acts as a registry for organisations or individuals who 'own' or take responsibility for domains. For any registry to be functional, its integrity needs to be assured. Unfortunately, WHOIS data does not appear to meet basic integrity requirements in many cases, reducing the effectiveness of law enforcement and rightsholders in requesting takedowns for phishing kits, zombie hosts that are part of a botnet, or infringing content. In this paper, we illustrate the problem using a case study from trademark protection, where investigators attempt to trace fake goods being advertised on Facebook. The results indicate that ICANN needs to at least introduce minimum verification standards for WHOIS records vis-à-vis integrity, and optimally, develop a system for rapid takedowns in the event that a domain is being misused.

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KW - WHOIS

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PB - Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)

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ER -

ICANN or ICANT: is WHOIS an enabler of cybercrime?

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Keywords

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