A BID to boost internet security and cut down on spam has been helped thanks to a Thames Valley-based specialist technology law firm.
Boyes Turner, which has offices in neighbouring Reading, acted for Spamhaus, an industry-leading, real-time cyber-security and spam prevention dataset provider, on a new licensing deal with ICANN, a not-for-profit organisation headquartered in Los Angeles.
It co-ordinates website addresses, ensuring there is one global internet, which is secure and stable.
The deal will enhance ICANN’s operational capacity to safeguard the internet and prevent spam.
The Spamhaus Data Feeds have been licensed to ICANN and will allow it to produce abuse reports, security metrics, predictive abuse metrics, risk scores and research papers. Domain names included in Spamhaus feeds may be provided to law enforcement or the ICANN compliance department for evidence of DNS abuse or misconduct.
Boyes Turner said that that the deal comes as Spamhaus reported a 29% surge in the number of botnet Command & Controllers – servers controlled by cybercriminals – in the second quarter of 2020.
The law firm’s head of technology, Mark Blunden (pictured), and solicitor, Calum Parfitt, advised Spamhaus on the deal.
“Spamhaus currently protects over three billion mailboxes and is responsible for blocking the vast majority of spam and malware sent out on the internet,” Mr Blunden said. “The deal with ICANN extends that, allowing ICANN to enhance its research capacity.”
An ICANN spokesperson said: “The Spamhaus Data Feeds will be an important addition to our efforts to ensure the security, stability, and resiliency of global identifier systems.”
