Afilias, a global provider of Internet infrastructure services and domain name registry technology, has successfully signed the .ORG zone with Domain Name Security Extensions (DNSSEC) on behalf of its customer, .ORG, The Public Interest Registry (PIR). The .ORG zone is being signed in a phased manner with an initial period allowing for key partners to test the signed zone.

“This is a major step forward in securing the Internet’s core infrastructure, as .ORG is the largest Internet domain to date to deploy DNSSEC,” said Ram Mohan, Executive Vice President and Chief Technology Officer at Afilias. “We congratulate PIR on this historic accomplishment that will benefit .ORG Web site owners and their visitors with state of the art protection from DNS hijacking and man-in-the-middle attacks.”

The .ORG registry will now be in a quiet period to test the signed zone and perform live use tests. This testing period will be used by Afilias and PIR to ensure for the best possible end user experience for DNSSEC-signed .ORG site owners and visitors.

“We are pleased to be a pioneer in the evolution of an upgraded and safer internet infrastructure,” said Alexa Raad, CEO of .ORG, The Public Interest Registry. “We encourage broader adoption across the industry so that all domain owners who deploy this technology will be assured that their visitors safely reach their Web site.”

About Afilias’ DNSSEC Technology

Afilias provides DNSSEC services to both generic and country code top-level domains. Afilias is currently recruiting beta testing customers for its 1-Click DNSSEC™ Managed product, which solves the myriad operational challenges of this new technology and allows organizations and enterprises to deploy DNSSEC with a simple click of the mouse. For more information please click here.

About DNSSEC

DNS Security Extensions (DNSSEC) was first introduced in the mid-1990s as an additional security measure to protect the DNS from cache poisoning exploits which can allow a bad actor to get in the middle of an Internet users’ request to access a Web site without their knowledge. The protocol officially became an RFC in 2005. In 2008, The Public Interest Registry announced that, in conjunction with their technical services provider Afilias, they would sign .org. Also in 2008, the US Office of Management and Budget issued a mandate for .mil and .gov to be signed. The US Department of Commerce is currently considering implications of signing the official Internet Root. Additional information on DNSSEC is available here.