Corporate Compliance and Governance Blog

Corporation Service Company (CSC) wants to inform our clients and colleagues about the following update from the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN):

MARINA DEL REY, CA - The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) announced in a press release that it is raising awareness of a recently discovered vulnerability in the domain name system (DNS). This includes releasing an FAQ and an online tool for domain operators to test their domains.

Due to the distributed nature of the DNS, no one organization can implement a fix for this vulnerability. It requires the cooperation of all name server operators and DNS software vendors.

However, ICANN sees an important goal in spreading awareness of the need to update Internet infrastructure to cope with the threat.

The organization has been undertaking significant outreach efforts to top-level domain operators to advise them on the issue. It has also prepared an FAQ and online domain testing tool to raise awareness of the problem, and to encourage network operators to rectify or update their servers.

Security researcher Dan Kaminsky recently discovered a design flaw in the fundamental DNS protocol. While it is not possible to fully fix this flaw, there are ways to improve resistance to it. This involves system administrators patching or reconfiguring their DNS servers.

The vulnerability affects what are called "recursive" name servers, typically installed at ISPs and corporate network gateways to assist DNS lookups and cache results for faster lookups, rather than the type of name servers used by domain registries which are "authoritative" name servers.

However, name servers can be configured to perform both "recursive" and "authoritative" functions from the same machine, and by doing so the susceptible recursive function can cause security risks for the authoritative function.

For operators of domain names, this vulnerability can be used to affect the contents of their zone if their authorities also provide recursive name service.

To detect whether a particular zone is vulnerable, ICANN has produced an online tool to help check domains for vulnerability.

Domain operators should look to ensuring that all of the authoritative name servers for their domain are separated from any recursive name servers to avoid being impacted by cache poisoning attacks.

ICANN is responsible for the global coordination of the Internet's system of unique identifiers like domain names (like .org, .museum and country codes like .uk) and the addresses used in a variety of Internet protocols that help computers reach each other over the Internet.

Continue reading "ICANN Highlights Domain Name System Vulnerability" »

According to a recent news article Chicago 2016, along with the United States Olympic Committee has filed a domain name claim with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). The city wants to claim the internet domain chicago2016.com as part of its bid to host the Olympic Games in eight years, Games Bids reports.

CSC is a registrar of domain names worldwide and provides a full suite of domain lifecycle services for over 700 domain extensions and internationalized domain names (IDNs). Our services include worldwide registration, specialized Sunrise services for new top-level domain (TLD) launches, local presence, renewal management, modifications and transfers. We also offer monitoring and enforcement solutions to ensure that your brand is kept secure on the Internet.

The CSC team also offers full support in helping you develop your domain name strategy and policy, from identifying risks in your portfolio to helping you track the effectiveness of your policy.

To learn more on how we can assist you with your portfolio of domain names please contact one of our Customer Service Representatives at 1-866-403-5272.

During the 32nd ICANN Meeting in Paris on June 21-27, the ICANN Board unanimously approved the 20 Recommendations and 17 Implementation Guidelines outlined by the Generic Names Supporting Organization (GNSO). This approval now authorizes ICANN staff to move forward with development of detailed requirements, procedures and policies for the introduction of new gTLDs to the root.

A little background...ICANN is responsible for the global coordination of the Internet's system of unique identifiers like domain names (.com, .org, .asia, etc.) and the addresses used in a variety of Internet protocols that help computers reach each other over the Internet. ICANN is a bottom-up, consensus policy organization that is made up of various constituencies and supporting organizations.

Continue reading "Introduction of New gTLDs " »