DNS

Mega International DNS Malware Operation Dismantled, Reports FBI

FBI today announced six Estonian nationals have been arrested and charged with running a sophisticated Internet fraud ring that infected millions of computers worldwide with a virus and enabled the thieves to manipulate the multi-billion-dollar Internet advertising industry. Users of infected machines were unaware that their computers had been compromised -- or that the malicious software rendered their machines vulnerable to a host of other viruses.

ISOC Issues Statement in Response to Increasing Internet Access Restrictions by Governments

The Internet Society (ISOC) has addressed human rights issues related to Internet access stating "[t]he increasing pressure to limit access to the Internet has escalated the sense of urgency in addressing this situation." ISOC, in the announcement, reaffirmed its policy area and its work to bring attention to the impact of Internet freedom on other aspects of human rights.

ICANN Launches Online Information Center for New gTLDs

ICANN has launched a micro-site to serve as the online source for New Generic Top-Level Domain (New gTLDs) Program. From ICANN's announcement: "ICANN is in the midst of a major campaign to raise awareness around the world about the impact and possibilities of new gTLDs. The new site represents a foundational expression of the campaign. Many more new articles, tools, and materials will be made available in the coming days and weeks."

Report on Today’s State of DNS Services

The Domain Name System, or DNS, has come a long way since its early days and the constant expansion of consumer activity and security concerns has raised further awareness about the critical role of the DNS. However, as the Yankee Group Research points out in a recent report, "there are more changes coming that are also raising the profile of DNS -- notably the move to cloud computing and the migration to IPv6." Suffice to say this is "Not Your Father's DNS". The report titled, "DNS: Risk, Reward and Managed Services" takes a fresh look at today's state of the DNS and the pros and cons of in-house, ISP and managed service provider DNS management options.

Domain Name Registrations Reach 215 Million, 5 Million Added in Q2

The latest Domain Name Industry Brief published by Verisign reports more than 5 million domain names were added to the Internet in the second quarter of 2011, bringing the total number of registered domain names to more than 215 million worldwide across all domains. The increase of 5.2 million domain names marks a growth rate of 2.5 percent over the first quarter. Registrations have grown by more than 16.9 million, or 8.6 percent, since the second quarter of 2010.

European Commission Seeking Greater Governmental Control Over the Internet

Kieren McCarthy reporting in .nxt: "An extraordinary series of policy papers drawn up by the European Commission and seen by .Nxt have called for greater governmental control over the Internet's domain name system. ...the measures would provide governments with de facto control over the Internet's naming systems and bring an end to the independent and autonomous approach that has defined the Internet's domain name system since its inception."

Making Internet Faster: Google, OpenDNS and Others Announce Joint Effort

Google, OpenDNS, content delivery networks and other operators have announced a joint effort called "The Global Internet Speedup," to "make the Internet faster". According to the group, this collaboration will be executed via an open IETF proposed standard called "edns-client-subnet" in order to help better direct content to users thereby decreasing latency, decreasing congestion, increasing transfer speeds and helping the Internet to scale faster and further.

Verisign Announces CEO Resignation

In its second quarter 2011 earnings call, Verisign announced that Mark McLaughlin has submitted his resignation to become the CEO of a private company. His last day with the company will be August 25, 2011. Mark concluded his board service at the regularly scheduled board of directors meeting on July 27, 2011 and resigned as president and chief executive officer effective August 1, 2011. Jim Bidzos, Verisign's founder and previous CEO, will become the president and chief executive officer effective August 1, 2011.

Internet Groups Inaugurate First of Three Cyber Security Facilities

ICANN and internet exchange firm Packet Clearing House (PCH) have joined forces with Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (IDA) and the National University of Singapore (NUS) to launch the first of three facilities designed to boost the adoption of Domain Name System Security (DNSSEC) among country code Top-Level Domains (ccTLDs). The three new facilities, located in Singapore; Zurich, Switzerland (still under construction) and San Jose, California, provide cryptographic security using the recently deployed DNSSEC protocol.

New Top-Level Domains Approved by ICANN

The Board of ICANN today gave final approval to the most dramatic change to the Internet in four decades -- allowing the expansion of new Top-Level Domains (TLDs). This monumental decision will allow companies and organizations to turn their own brands into Internet domain extensions (that is .brand) or to create broad generic strings such as .CAR, .SPORTS or .BANK. ICANN's TLD expansion plan was first announced three years ago on June 26, 2008 at the 32nd ICANN Meeting in Paris.

Domain Name Registrations Reach 209.8 Million, 2.2 Percent Increase over 2010 Q4

The latest Domain Name Industry Brief published by Verisign reports 4.5 million domain names were added to the Internet in the first three months of 2011. According to the report, the first quarter of 2011 closed with a base of more than 209.8 million domain name registrations across all Top Level Domains (TLDs), or a 2.2 percent increase over the fourth quarter of 2010. Registrations grew by 15.3 million, or 7.9 percent year over year.

Experts Urge Congress to Reject DNS Filtering from PROTECT IP Act, Serious Technical Concerns Raised

A group of leading DNS experts have released a paper detailing serious concerns over the proposed DNS filtering requirements included as part of the bill recently introduced in the U.S. Senate named Preventing Real Online Threats to Economic Creativity and Theft of Intellectual Property Act of 2011 ("PROTECT IP Act"). The group who is urging lawmakers to reconsider enacting such a mandate into law, includes leading DNS designers, operators, and researchers, responsible for numerous RFCs for DNS, publication of many peer-reviewed academic studies related to architecture and security of the DNS, and responsible for the operation of important DNS infrastructure on the Internet.

Nominet Rolls Out DNSSEC for 9.4 Million .UK Domains

UK registry Nominet has enabled the deployment of domain name system security extensions (DNSSEC) for 9.4 million second level .uk domains. Completing the rollout represents over a year's work and marks an important milestone in making the web a more trusted environment for UK consumers and businesses, says Nominet, which is responsible for running the .uk internet infrastructure.

Garth Bruen Discussing Whois, DNSSEC and Domain Security

NameSmash has interviewed Garth Bruen, Internet security expert and creator of Knujon, on some key issues under discussion during the recent ICANN meetings in San Francisco. Topics include Whois, DNS Security Extensions (DNSSEC) and generic Top-Level Domains (gTLDs) -- issues of critical importance particularly with ICANN's expected roll-out of thousands of new gTLDs in the coming years.

DNSSEC Deployed for .COM, Internet’s Largest Top-Level Domain

DNS Security Extensions (DNSSEC) has been deployed for .COM, Internet's largest domain extension with more than 90 million registrations. The announced was made today by VeriSign, the registry operator for .COM.