Data Accuracy on American Registry for Internet Numbers

ARIN's Data Accuracy Improvement Program

Wed, 13 Jun 2018 09:00:00 -0400

The Data Accuracy Improvement Program will increase the integrity and accuracy of ARIN’s registry data by validating the information currently associated with all organizations holding resources from ARIN, ultimately benefiting the broader Internet community. Each registry administers a data accuracy program in accordance with its operational practices and policies.

During this process, ARIN will confirm and vet the information associated with organizations and users linked to each account.

Contact Validation and Management

Wed, 13 Jun 2018 09:00:00 -0400

Why Does ARIN Need Point of Contact Information?

A Point of Contact is a specific person or role account that is associated with an IPv4, IPv6, or Autonomous System Number (ASN) record in ARIN’s database. Registered Points of Contact are the only ones authorized to make changes to an organization’s registration records. A Point of Contact can be specified as an Admin, Tech, Abuse, Network Operations Center (NOC), Routing, or Domain Name System (DNS) contact for an organization.

The Importance of Data Accuracy

Wed, 13 Jun 2018 09:00:00 -0400

An accurate registry is essential to the overall operability and stability of the Internet.

When you validate your Point of Contact records with ARIN and keep your registration information up to date and accurate, you’re not only improving the quality of the data in Whois, but you’re also taking two other important steps:

You’re helping to prevent the hijacking of your resources. ARIN has increasingly found that registration records that haven’t been updated have become the prime targets of hijackers and other potential criminals. One common approach is to find these dormant resource, organization, and Point of Contact records, and then try to determine if their associated resources are being used by a viable organization. If it appears that the resources aren’t being used or that the registrant is no longer in business, the perpetrators then attempt to emulate the organization so they can take over the organization record and its related resources (including persuading ISPs to begin routing those resources). This type of fraud can eventually lead to a registrant losing control of not only its resources, but also its Org ID and Point of Contact records.

Orphaned Point of Contact and Organization Identifier Records

Wed, 04 Sep 2019 15:00:00 -0400

Using input received during a community consultation, ARIN has developed a procedure for deleting all Organization Identifiers (Org IDs) and Points of Contact (POCs) from ARIN’s public Whois that have been “orphaned” for two years. All deleted data will be archived by ARIN in perpetuity.

This practice fulfills two of ARIN’s major obligations:

What is an Orphaned Record?

An Org ID is considered orphaned if it has no issued number resources.