Security strengthened for .org domain

The Public Interest Registry, which manages the .org top-level domain, yesterday digitally signed the .org zone using the Domain Name System Security Extensions (DNSSEC).

DNSSEC lets DNS queries and responses be digitally signed so they can be authenticated and are harder to spoof or manipulate. But both sides of the exchange must be using DNSSEC in order for it to work, and it will be some months before the new security service is rolled out to domains registered within the top-level domain.

“We want to do this in a responsible manner,” said Lance Wolak, director of marketing and product management for PIR. During a beta-test phase the extensions will be trialed in a test bed with domains registered specifically for testing. “When all goes well with that, we will reach out and begin working with live domains,” Wolak said. “We expect to be doing this throughout the rest of this year and into 2010.”