Global Signal Exchange

League Tables are currently in the process of being developed and will be publicly available soon.

What are the League Tables?

The Global Signal Exchange League Tables are dynamic tables which rank entities involved in the DNS ecosystem (such as TLDs, Registrars, ASNs) based on their relative levels of reported internet abuse.

The main purpose of the League Tables is to encourage entities involved in the DNS ecosystem to take more action in reducing levels of internet abuse.

The core idea is that if an organisation finds itself ranked poorly, it may be motivated to implement stronger policies on internet abuse, thereby improving its standing in the League Tables and contributing to a safer internet overall.

The League Tables aim to be unbiased and data driven, please refer to specific methodologies for details on how results have been calculated.

What data are the League Tables Based on?

For information about 'signals', please see our FAQ page on 'What is a Signal'?

The League Tables are based on signals that have been reported to the GSE by a variety of feed providers. Although some of the data feeds on the GSE provide us with predictive reports, the League Tables only consider reports that are ‘non predictive’.

Signals reported to the GSE, referred to as ‘reports’ in the League Tables, do not provide concrete evidence of online abuse. They enable suspicious content to be shared in order to provide a broader picture of the threat landscape.

The GSE has a broad definition of "digital abuse". Our League Tables are based on signals of all abuse types accepted by the GSE.

What is a TLD?

A Top Level Domain (TLD) is the last part of a domain name, such as .COM .ORG .NET. TLDs can give an indication of the domain’s category, for example, the ".ORG" extension is short for "organisation", and indicates that the domain name hosts content related to a specific organisation. More specific TLDs such as .COFFEE .FLORIST or .DENTIST allude to more focused content.

Country Code Top Level Domains (ccTLDs) are two-letter country-specific TLDs, such as .UK, .SG, .NL, .CA. They can provide more contextual clues about the nature of content hosted on a domain name, for example, the language that a page is in, or information local to a geographical region.

TLDs are managed by organisations called Registries.

Why do we have a TLD League Table, and not a Registry League Table?

While registries are responsible for managing all of the domain names under their TLDs, the TLD League Tables rank the TLDs themselves, not their registries. This allows us to explore where internet abuse occurs at a more granular level.

As some registries are responsible for multiple TLDs, that could be operating in different markets, looking at abuse on the TLD level can provide insights as to which domain categories experience the most online abuse.