DNS

ICANN Must Release the Single-Character .com Hostages from the IANA Impostor’s Warehouse

Most of the single-character .com labels were initially registered in 1993 by Dr. Jon Postel while performing work pursuant to a contract with, and funded by, the U.S. government and are currently assigned to a "shell registrar" created and controlled by ICANN. This shell - which is the 376th entry on ICANN's list of accredited registrars - is misleadingly identified as the IANA registrar while being engaged in the illicit warehousing of domain names for speculative purposes. more

The Dangers of Building a Brand on a Tenuous Country Code

About two years ago I wrote with concern about Bit.ly's use of Libya's country code. I noted that It's always important to keep in mind that a company can't "own" a domain the way it owns real estate. Now it appears that companies that have built brand names on Libya's country code are facing difficult times. more

Dyn Acquired by Oracle

Oracle this morning announced agreement to acquire Dyn, leading cloud-based Internet Performance and DNS provider. Dyn, which recently gained substantial media attention as a result of a historic cyberattack, drives 40 billion traffic optimization decisions daily for more than 3,500 enterprise customers, including preeminent digital brands such as Netflix, Twitter, Pfizer and CNBC. more

Hacking Increasingly Becoming a Physical Concern

If this past quarter's stories are any indication, we could very well be seeing the rise of a new wave of threats that will affect people in a more pronounced and physical level, reports Trend Micro in its Q2 Security Roundup Report. more

Help Recognize Internet Pioneers and Heroes – Nominations Open for 2021 Internet Hall of Fame

Do you know someone who deserves recognition for launching the Internet in their region or country? Or someone who made some major technical innovation that made the Internet faster or better? Or someone who is a passionate advocate who influenced other people to make the Internet better? Can you think of someone who helped the Internet reach new people? For example, in a new region or language? Do you know someone who made the Internet more inclusive and accessible to more people? more

COVID-19, WHOIS, and the Pressing Need for Help With Domain Name System Abuse

As widely reported, and not surprising, the internet is swimming in COVID-19 online scams. Criminals, accustomed to rapidly grabbing online territory during times of crisis and profiting from public fear, are working overtime in the face of the coronavirus. Unfortunately, ICANN's failure to enforce its minimal WHOIS and DNS abuse requirements has resulted in delayed mitigation efforts at a time when swift responses are needed to protect the public from COVID-19 scams. more

geoTLDs - Small but Perfectly Formed?

I always geek out a little when I see something ICANN-related breaking out into the real world, like when the bus-stop display has borked, and its LAN is vainly searching for an IP number so it can reboot. Or the ICANN Paris meeting back in 2008 when the board gave the thumbs up to the GNSO policy to launch new gTLDs. One day we were an obscure Californian organisation doing something technical-seeming most people had never heard of, and the next we were working two phones each, giving journalists quotes and information for dozens of front-page news stories around the world. more

Is It Time to Supplement Desktop Security Protections?

Internet users are acutely aware of their exposure on the Internet and clearly concerned about their safety. Increased downloads of scareware as Conficker made headlines in the mainstream media are only the latest evidence. Desktop software is often viewed as a one-stop shop for fighting Internet threats such as viruses, worms and other forms of malware and phishing. These solutions have served us well but more protections are needed to address the dynamic and increasingly sophisticated web based exploits being launched... more

Cybercriminals Benefitting from Stalled Privacy/Proxy Policy

We've seen alarmingly BIG increases in multiple abusive behaviors – like phishing, hacking and malware – that often leverage the domain name system (DNS) and privacy/proxy services. Cybercriminals capitalize on gaps in DNS security measures, and ICANN is holding the door open for them by failing to implement their privacy/proxy policy. If you are ever targeted, you are not alone. more

The Business Parallels Between IPv6 and DNSSEC

For two things that would seem to be completely unrelated there is an interesting parallel between IPv6 and DNSSEC. In both cases there is a misalignment of interests between content providers and service?providers. Content providers aren't highly motivated to deploy IPv6 because only a small proportion of users have v6 connectivity and even fewer only have v6. Service providers aren't anxious to deploy IPv6? because there isn't a lot of content on v6, and virtually none exclusively on v6 - so they don't expand the universe of interesting stuff on the web by deploying IPv6. Basically the same things could be said about DNSSEC. more

Call for Participation - DNSSEC Workshop at ICANN 55 in Marrakech, Morocco

Do you have an idea for a new way to use DNSSEC or DANE to make the Internet more secure? Have you recently installed DNSSEC and have a great case study you can share of lessons learned? Do you have a new tool or service that makes DNSSEC or DANE easier to use or deploy? Do you have suggestions for how to improve DNSSEC? Or new ways to automate or simplify the user experience? If you do, and if you will be attending ICANN 55 in Marrakech, Morocco (or can get there), we are now seeking proposals for the ICANN 55 DNSSEC Workshop that will take place on Wednesday, 9 March 2016. more

Major Outage Hits German’s Websites Under .de Domain

Millions of websites under Germany's top-level domains, .de, went offline on Wednesday due to a technical error according to various sources. While the exact cause of the outage is still unknown, the problem is reported to have originated from DENIC, the central registry for the .de top-level domain. more

Doing Our Part for a Safer, Stronger DNS

Public Interest Registry is the industry leader of DNS Anti-Abuse efforts on the Internet. Since our inception, we have worked to empower people and organizations that use the Internet to make the world a better place. Whether a .ORG is the foundation of an individual voice, a global non-profit, or any organization that is part of the mission-driven .ORG community, we are proud to have earned the trust of so many dedicated users. more

Taking the Anti-SOPA Message to the People

It was fascinating last week to read coverage of congressional hearings around the SOPA bill, or Stop Online Privacy Act. The bill has strong support from the Motion Picture Association of America, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and big pharmaceutical companies. It's opposed by most technology and telecom companies, plus consumer advocate groups like the Electronic Frontier Foundation and Public Knowledge. more

Say YES to DNSSEC

With the latest "DNSpionage" attack, ICANN astutely prompted domain name holders to fully deploy DNSSEC on their names. Afilias absolutely supports this and encourages the same. In this post, I remind you of why DNSSEC is important and our continued role. Afilias has a long history in the development and advocacy of DNSSEC. In 2007, we partnered with Public Interest Registry to help found dnssec-deployment.org. more