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Because Effective Anti-Abuse Collaboration Requires a Trusted Global Forum

Download the M3AAWG Membership Value and Fact Sheet

The Messaging, Malware, and Mobile Anti-Abuse Working Group provides a collaborative global trusted forum that brings industry together to help fight and prevent online abuse. Working with members, industry groups and global partners, M3AAWG will continue its efforts to help prevent online abuse, focusing on protecting communications, data privacy and security, and the supply chain.

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M3AAWG Mission and Vision Statements (Multiple Languages)

Vision Statement: A world free of online abuse.

Mission Statement: To be the leading global trusted forum bringing industry together to innovate, collaborate, and maximize our impact in prevention of online abuse, through our targeted priorities, focus areas, and world-class best practices.

Who We Are 

Founded in 2004, the Messaging Malware and Mobile Anti-Abuse Working Group (M3AAWG) is a technology-neutral global industry association. As a working group, we develop cooperative approaches for fighting online abuse. Our more than 200 members worldwide include Internet service providers (ISPs), communications service providers, social networking companies, hosting and cloud services providers, major antivirus vendors and security vendors, email service providers, leading hardware and software vendors and major brands, as well as invited experts, government agencies and related industry groups and industry partners. 

What We Do 

In addition to ongoing assessment and discussion of relevant topics via our committees and special interest groups, we develop and publish best practices papers (translated when available), position statements, training and educational videos, and other materials to help the online community fight abuse with a focus on operational practices. 

Our public policy advocacy (which is not lobbying) provides technical and operational guidance to governments and Internet and public policy agencies developing new Internet policies, standards, and legislation. 

M3AAWG Priorities, Focus Areas and Initiatives

As Internet operations and security have evolved, our work continues to evolve as well to address:

Priorities
Focus Areas
Initiatives
Organization
  • Diverse & Inclusive Culture
  • Global Outreach
  • Growth and Development
  • Connection
  • Accountability, communication, contribution
  • Best common practices, knowledge / information sharing
  • Members, standards bodies, governments, industry partners, public policy, academia
  • Membership, leadership, mentorship
  • Interconnectedness, streamline cross-committee, STA collaboration
  • Improved collaboration tooling
  • PR/Marketing
Readiness
  • Prevention
  • Mitigation
  • Emerging Threats
  • Emerging Technologies
  • Threat intelligence/monitoring/modeling
  • Detection, respond, recover
  • Timeliness of deprecation of older technologies
  • Quantum Computing, adversarial AI, communications
  • Post-quantum cryptography, biometrics, artificial intelligence
Data & Identity Protection
  • Identity Protection
  • Data Privacy
  • Data Security
  • Zero Trust Principles
  • Multi-factor authentication, account compromise, ransomware
  • Legislation, policies, governance
  • Encryption, encrypted protocols, authentication
  • Verify explicitly, least privilege, assume breach
Communications
  • Network
  • Messaging
  • Mobile
  • IoT
  • Traffic analysis, transport security, endpoint security
  • Abuse Desk, Malware, DMARC, DNS, Spam, DDoS
  • Messaging, operating system, phishing, applications
  • Device security, data security, Mfg. dependencies
Supply Chain
  • Dependencies
  • Risk Management
  • Vulnerability Management
  • Verification
  • Open-source software, services
  • Assess, monitor
  • Detection, remediation
  • Secure development, testing

Download this sheet in PDF format
 

How We Work 

M3AAWG maintains a diverse and inclusive culture while providing its members a trusted forum and a framework for open discussion and collaboration on online abuse issues in an atmosphere of confidentiality and cooperation. 

Our work is driven by members who contribute ideas and content for best practices and other initiatives with input from a diverse community across industries, government, academia and civil society groups, as well as industry partners. Information and best practices are shared with the broader online abuse community as appropriate.  

Members participate in M3AAWG through relevant committees or special interest groups (SIG) in support of organizational priorities, focus areas and initiatives. 

Through global partners (https://www.m3aawg.org/our-partners), we collaborate to combine expertise and best practices across a number of complementary groups to fight online abuse.

In addition to regular committee, SIG, and board meetings, we gather three times a year in North America and Europe for working sessions, roundtables and keynotes. These multi-track meetings held over four days feature presentations by academic researchers, public policy advisors, government representatives, industry experts, and innovative technology leaders with open discussion among industry peers. 

Benefits and Value for Our Members 

  • Diverse and inclusive culture
  • Confidential and collaborative forums, including access to members only content
  • Global perspective
  • Breadth and depth of expertise and knowledge
  • Best practices
  • Content, and industry communications including News, our blog, videos and social media links provide frequent updates. 

Questions? Please contact Amy Cadagin, M3AAWG Executive Director, at  https://www.m3aawg.org/contact-us

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