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Research & Reports

vspam.org Threat Intelligence Research

Independent research on internet spam, phishing, abuse, and malware. Our reports are published weekly and include original data analysis, trend identification, and actionable intelligence drawn from the vspam.org community-verified threat database.

All publications are released under CC BY 4.0. Citation format: vspam.org Research Team. (2026). [Title]. vspam.org, [Report No.].

5 PublicationsNewest first
VSPAM-2026-012March 17, 2026

Phishing Websites, Spam Domains & IP Abuse: Research Analysis & Threat Intelligence Report 2025–2026

vspam.org Research TeamPrimary Investigator

Comprehensive research analysis covering phishing website trends, spam domain registration patterns, and IP address abuse across 2025–2026. This report examines the evolving threat landscape, infrastructure abuse patterns, and provides actionable threat intelligence for mail operators and security teams.

Key Findings
  • 01.Phishing websites increasingly leverage cloud hosting platforms and legitimate SaaS infrastructure
  • 02.Spam domain registration patterns show coordinated bulk registration across low-cost registrars
  • 03.IP abuse analysis reveals concentration of malicious activity in specific autonomous systems
  • 04.Community-driven reporting provides unique coverage not found in automated-only detection systems
  • 05.Cross-referencing multiple threat intelligence sources significantly improves detection accuracy
phishingspam-domainsip-abusethreat-intelligenceannual
VSPAM-2026-011March 10, 2026

The DNSBL Effectiveness Study: Measuring Real-World Impact of Community-Driven Blocklists

vspam.org Research TeamPrimary Investigator

A controlled study measuring the effectiveness of the vspam.org DNSBL feed across 2,400 participating mail servers over 60 days. We analyze false positive rates, detection latency, and the impact of trust-tier weighted voting on blocklist accuracy.

Key Findings
  • 01.DNSBL feed blocked 94.7% of phishing emails within 2 hours of community confirmation
  • 02.False positive rate measured at 0.003% across 2,400 participating mail servers
  • 03.Trust-tier weighted voting reduced false confirmations by 67% compared to simple majority voting
  • 04.Median detection-to-blocklist latency: 47 minutes for Tier 2 (Trusted) reporter submissions
  • 05.Combined with existing RBLs, vspam.org DNSBL provided 12% additional unique threat coverage
dnsbleffectivenessmail-securitymethodology
VSPAM-2026-010March 3, 2026

Abuse Notification Response Times: A Cross-Provider Analysis of Takedown Effectiveness

vspam.org Research TeamPrimary Investigator

Comprehensive analysis of abuse notification response times across 180+ hosting providers. We measure time-to-acknowledgment, time-to-takedown, and identify which provider characteristics correlate with faster response to phishing abuse reports.

Key Findings
  • 01.Top 10 hosting providers by volume averaged 4.2 hours time-to-takedown; bottom 50 averaged 127 hours
  • 02.Providers with dedicated abuse API endpoints responded 8.3x faster than email-only providers
  • 03.XARF-formatted abuse reports received 23% faster acknowledgment than free-text reports
  • 04.Weekend takedown times were 2.1x longer than weekday averages across all provider tiers
  • 05.Automated re-notification at 24-hour intervals reduced overall time-to-takedown by 31%
abuse-reportingtakedownhosting-providersanalysis
VSPAM-2026-009February 24, 2026

Threat Intelligence Feed Correlation: Mapping Overlap Between Public Phishing Data Sources

vspam.org Research TeamPrimary Investigator

Cross-referencing vspam.org confirmed IOCs against PhishTank, OpenPhish, URLhaus, and APWG feeds to measure unique coverage and identify blind spots in the collective phishing intelligence ecosystem.

Key Findings
  • 01.vspam.org contributed 18.3% unique IOCs not found in any other analyzed public feed
  • 02.Combined coverage of all 5 feeds reached 89% of known active phishing URLs (sampled via honeypots)
  • 03.Email-based phishing IOCs had the lowest cross-feed overlap (34%), indicating significant blind spots
  • 04.Average lag between first appearance in any feed and propagation to all feeds: 6.8 hours
  • 05.Domain-based IOCs showed highest correlation (72% overlap) across all analyzed feeds
threat-intelfeed-correlationecosystemcoverage
VSPAM-2026-008February 17, 2026

Weekly Threat Briefing: February 17–23, 2026

vspam.org Research TeamPrimary Investigator

Weekly summary of notable phishing campaigns, newly observed tactics, and community reporting trends. This week features a spike in QR-code phishing targeting corporate Microsoft 365 accounts and a new phishing kit distributed via Telegram channels.

Key Findings
  • 01.QR-code phishing (quishing) reports increased 340% week-over-week, primarily targeting M365 credentials
  • 02.New phishing kit 'PayGate-v3' identified across 120+ domains, distributed via Telegram marketplace
  • 03.Community submitted 8,247 reports this week; 6,102 confirmed, 891 rejected, 1,254 pending review
  • 04.Top targeted brands: Microsoft (28%), PayPal (14%), DHL (11%), Amazon (9%), Apple (7%)
  • 05.3 hosting providers issued proactive takedowns within 1 hour of vspam.org abuse notification
weekly-briefingqr-phishingmicrosoft-365phishing-kits

Reports are published weekly. Data is sourced from the vspam.org community-verified threat database. For questions about methodology or data access, contact research@vspam.org.