"DNS Abuse" as a term covers all forms of online threats related to the DNS, but the exact definition has been a matter of debate for some years.

FIRST, the Forum of Incident Responders and Security Teams, is a global organization that helps incident responders and other cybersecurity folk get together and help each other out. I represent FIRST as the DNS Abuse Ambassador, and they recently sent me to Kuala Lumpur for the ICANN75 AGM. It was indeed a time of a lot of firsts (hah) for me—first time in Kuala Lumpur, first ICANN meeting (the 75th meeting and AGM at that!), and the first time I was properly representing FIRST in person.

DNS Abuse is a pretty widely used term. On the surface, it might seem like a simple term that's easily understood. But when you look more closely, the definition depends on your perception of the issue—and can be defined both broadly, or more narrowly.

Often, you need to make a choice: Privacy or usability. In this post, Pete Lowe explains how DNS (and DNSFilter) fits into your choice to prioritize privacy or usability.