Abuse Handling Policy

What this policy covers

This policy covers abuse involving websites, email and servers hosted with HostElevate, and domains registered through us. If a domain is registered with us but its website is hosted somewhere else, we can act only on the domain, so please also report the content to its host.

What you can report

• Spam sent from our servers, or spam that advertises a site we host
• Phishing pages, fake shops and other scams
• Malware, hacked websites and compromised accounts
• Attacks such as denial of service, brute-force logins and port scanning
• Child sexual abuse material
• Copyright or trademark infringement
• Other illegal content, or content that breaks our Acceptable Use Policy
• False contact details in a domain registration

How to report abuse

Email abuse@hostelevate.com. Clear reports with evidence are handled fastest. Please include:

• the domain, URL or IP address involved;
• the type of abuse;
• evidence, such as full email headers for spam, or log lines with dates, times and time zone for attacks; and
• your name and contact details, so we can ask questions if we need to.

Please do not send malware files, passwords or any image of child sexual abuse. Describe the material and give us the link instead. Child sexual abuse material should also be reported to your national hotline or police.

How we handle reports

• We acknowledge reports and check whether the service is hosted or registered with us.
• We review the evidence and decide what action is needed.
• Urgent reports, such as phishing, malware, active attacks, child sexual abuse material and threats to someone's safety, are handled first.
• To protect our customers' privacy, we may not be able to share the details of the action we take.

Actions we may take

• Ask the customer to remove the content or fix the problem by a deadline
• Disable a specific file, page or email account
• Suspend the hosting service, server or domain
• Terminate the service for serious or repeated abuse
• Report illegal activity to the relevant authorities

Telling our customer

We normally tell the customer about a report, explain what needs to be done and give a reasonable deadline. When harm is ongoing, such as live phishing or an active attack, or when the law requires it, we may act first and tell the customer afterwards.

Hacked websites and servers

A hacked site often harms visitors and other customers, so we may suspend it until it is clean. To restore it, the customer must remove the malicious code, update the website software and plugins, and change all related passwords. Our support team can explain what needs to be fixed.

Copyright complaints

A copyright complaint should include:

• the work you believe is being infringed;
• the exact URL of the material on our network;
• your name, address, phone number and email;
• a statement that you believe in good faith that the use is not authorized by the owner, its agent or the law;
• a statement that the information in your notice is accurate and that you are the owner, or authorized to act for the owner; and
• your physical or electronic signature.

If the complaint is complete, we pass it to our customer and remove or disable the material. The customer may send a counter-notice if they believe the removal was a mistake. Unless the complainant tells us that they have started court action, we may restore the material after 10 business days. We terminate the services of repeat infringers.

Trademark and domain disputes

We cannot decide who has the rights to a trademark or domain. These disputes are handled through the UDRP, similar procedures or the courts. We follow valid decisions and court orders.

Requests from authorities

Law enforcement and government requests are handled under our Court Order & Subpoena Policy.

Getting a service restored

If your service was restricted, fix the problem and reply to the ticket explaining what you changed. We review the fix and restore the service once the problem is gone.

False reports

We may ignore reports that are knowingly false or made in bad faith.