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How to report Internet abuse?

If you have evidence of abuse against you or your computer, it is very important that you know exactly who is responsible. Many computer users believe that the "from" field in an email is the person responsible. That is not true. The "from" field is the last place you would look to identify the person responsible. Within every log or Internet Header is recorded what is called an IP address.

An IP address is similar to your phone number; it is used to connect your computer to the Internet. An IP address is unique like your phone number. Companies that provide any type of Internet service keep databases that store IP traffic meaning that any IP address trying to connect to that network will be logged. Depending on the company, these records are kept for a certain amount of time and can be used to identify problems on the network, Internet abusers, and its own customers or clients that are abusing.What is recorded on most networks is date, time, MAC address, IP address, computer name, and sometimes some customer information.

Types of abuse logs

• Internet (Message) headers - Headers are found in email. Depending on your email client, the email headers are found in different places. Email headers are generally not displayed within the email. Example: In Microsoft Outlook, to view the email headers, you would right click the email and select "Options" to see the email headers.
• Firewall log - A firewall log displays attacks against your computer or server and local traffic that your computer does on the Internet or on the local network.
• Newsgroup Logs - When you post to Newsgroups your computer information is logged and recorded. Newsgroup logs are very similar to email headers in appearance and how you find them. In Outlook Express, if you have your Newsgroups setup, download a few threads from the group, and then right click the thread to get the Newsgroup Headers.
• Copyright Abuse Report - If you witness someone transmitting copyrighted files on the Internet, you can report them in for copyright abuse. There are several agencies that represent companies and its products that will respond to copyright abuse. To locate an agency to report copyright abuse, do a search on the Internet.
• Screen Shots - If you encounter abuse that can not be logged or recorded or you do not know how to get the information you need, you can always take a screenshot. In Windows, if you push the "Print Screen" button on your keyboard and then open Paint program, use the "CRTL + V" keys or "Edit then Paste". You will have a screenshot which you can save as an image file.
  

Reporting abuse

When you are ready to report Internet abuse, it is very important that you have all of the information needed to process the complaint. In each section on this page, we outline specifics on what is needed when reporting abuse. We need to make it very clear that those guidelines are in reference to what our abuse department requires. Our requirements are very similar to other abuse departments; however, you may find that the information you send may not be enough. Therefore, be prepared to produce more documentation to satisfy the needs of the business to which you are reporting.

Once you have the information of the person or business that committed the abuse, you will need to look up that IP address to discover who should receive your abuse complaint.

IP address assignments are broken down in to five geographic regions which are responsible for recording and maintaining a database of every IP address that is assigned. Each organization keeps a detailed log of the individual or company address, phone, contact email and the IP address that are assigned to them. This database helps determine those individuals or companies responsible for the activity in question. The map below breaks down each area and who is responsible for maintaining IP addresses.

Each site offers a section which you can type in the IP address in question, and search a database to see if they have any information to offer you. If the IP address is not in the database, they will direct you to the proper website. We recommend you start your search to start with ARIN WHOIS. They service the U.S.A. which is most likely where the IP address originated. If you are new to domain names and the process of how a domain name is created and maintained, we invite you to read InterNIC's FAQ's for more information.

• American Registry for Internet Numbers (ARIN WHOIS) - (U.S. & Canada)
• Asia Pacific region (APNIC) - (Asia & Australia)
• RIPE NCC - (Europe, Middle East & Russia)
• Latin America & Caribbean (LACNIC) - (Mexico & South America)
• African Internet Number Registry(AFRINIC)

Need help understanding the IP lookup search results? Try this interactive tutorial created by ARIN.