DMU Develops Protocol to Fight Net Abuse
Des Moines University (DMU) is working on a new Internet communications protocol called the Iowa Internet Annoyance Logging Protocol (IIALP), which allows end users and system administrators to track abusive Internet activity. The complaints are logged using preset templates for different types of abuse, and are then automatically condensed and passed to centralized IIALP servers. By using the abuse reports, system administrators and the general public can query IIALP servers to find out which Internet addresses are associated with abusive activities. The protocol should save network administrators time by automatically handling complaints that they currently do manually. To monitor the latest documentation of IIALP, the informal working group has set up a Web site at www.abuselog.org, which provides documentation and allows the public to comment on various aspects of this emerging communications protocol.