The DNS Research Federation (DNSRF) today announces that is has joined forces with Google and the Global Anti-Scam Alliance (GASA) to tackle online scams, fraud and abuse through a data platform called the Global Signal Exchange. 

The Global Signal Exchange will be powered by our DAP.live platform, currently holding 100+ data feeds, to provide partners with live, continually updated feeds of fraudulent activity. Google as the first Founding Member of the new Global Signal Exchange, will start to provide its own abuse data and ingest relevant feeds from DAP.live. 

Fighting scams is a collaborative effort. It requires the Internet industry to cooperate with business, civil society and government to take on bad actors and protect users. A key part of that fight is sharing abuse data and related information (signals). 

The exchange is a collaboration between the three organisations and is open to anyone with a legitimate interest in, or ability to act against, online scams. Verified partners will not only gain access to the latest fraud intelligence but also receive a customised dashboard that spotlights data most relevant to their organisation. Those with access to their own abuse feed will be encouraged to contribute to the collective effort by sharing it with the exchange. The system will also incorporate a feedback loop that rewards swift reporting, threat mitigation, and quality control.

Online scams have a devastating impact on people’s lives, and cause real-world harm to users:

• The current annual cost of cybercrime is estimated to be $8.6 Billion globally, and rising. 
• Recent data from the DNS Research Federation revealed that the average person now receives around 240 scam emails or texts a year, with one in eight receiving double this.
  

Recent years have seen an explosion in online fraud, fed by the fact that more of our lives are online than ever before, and that the global technical and legal frameworks for tackling it are, at the moment, insufficient.

The Global Signal Exchange is a step toward correcting that imbalance by putting a spotlight on where scams are happening online, in real time, and by sharing information about online scams and fraud across the Internet ecosystem. We aim to help stop malicious activities faster, making them less effective and so less profitable.

• DNS Research Federation has built the data analytics gateway at DAP.live to support our academic and policy work by offering free, open and transparent data sharing. 
  
• As a world leader in online services and a key player in the Internet ecosystem, Google has considerable experience fighting online scams, and as the first Founding Member contributed relevant abuse signals, funding and its AI capabilities to establish the GSE as the global clearinghouse for scams and fraud abuse signals. 
• GASA was established specifically to tackle the growing threat of online fraud and has built a global alliance of businesses focused on protecting consumers. It will provide the organisational centre of the Global Signal Exchange.

Emily Taylor, CEO at the DNS Research Federation comments: “As a UK firm, we are delighted to be partnering with other world leaders to launch the first Global Signal Exchange, which signifies a step-change in the fight against online scams and facilities a new culture of co-operation and collaboration. Our own research at DNS Research Federation has revealed that the average amount of money British adults lose to online scams has hit a national average of £1,169 per person, with 7% claiming to have lost more than £7,500 to scammers. Furthermore, our tracking DAP.LIVE data reveals that major brands from all industry sectors are having their brands infringed by the scammers, who rely on using familiar brand names to attract their victims. The solution requires everyone to work together. Scammers work together, they share and they move quickly. The days are long-gone when individual brands can tackle online crime alone – and The Global Signal Exchange marks a new chapter in the fight-back against online crime and Google’s support will be a game-changer for our work.”

Media Enquires

For further comment or to arrange interviews with Emily Taylor and Lucien Taylor on the Global Signal Exchange, contact:

Guy Bellamy: 07766 775216

[email protected]

Notes to the editor:

About DNS Research Federation
The Domain Name System Research Federation (DNSRF) is a non-profit organisation based in the UK that uses evidence-based research to provide policy recommendations and outcomes for the Internet industry. The data landscape for the DNS, which underpins the Internet, is fragmented and lacks open, objective data making it hard for researchers, academics, standard developers and social scientists to understand what is going on at the technical layer of the Internet. 

DNSRF will power the Global Signal Exchange through DAP.live, a mature, robust, secure signals sharing platform that aggregates more than 100 feeds and shares that data with hundreds of users. The platform is hosted on Google's Cloud Platform, lending scalability and resilience.

More information about the DNS Research Federation’s DAP.live platform and to follownews on the Global Signal Exchange, visit https://dnsrf.org