ICANN Maps Out Internet Defense

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers -- or ICANN, as it’s better known -- is responsible for managing the Internet’s domain name system. While much of its focus has been on new top-level domains, ICANN these days is busily ramping up the technology and its pitch for making the Internet more secure for its users.

More@ http://www.esecurityplanet.com/features/article.php/3888791/ICANN-Maps-Out-Internet-Defense.htm

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Can .gov trust .com?

DNSSEC deployment picks up speed, but domains are still islands of trust

The last of 13 servers in the Domain Name System’s authoritative root zone was digitally signed with the DNS Security Extensions May 5, paving the way for the publication this summer of the root trust anchor that will remove a major hurdle to the widespread deployment of DNSSEC.

“Since the beginning of the year, we have been incrementally rolling out DNSSEC in the root zone,” said Joe Waldron, director of product management at VeriSign Naming Services.

The DNS root zone, which contains the records needed to resolve the domain names used by people and applications to the numerical IP addresses used by routers and servers, is overseen by the Commerce Department’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration, and the files are managed by VeriSign. DNSSEC provides a layer of security on the Internet by using cryptographic digital signatures to authenticate responses to DNS queries. The effort by NTIA, VeriSign and the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers to deploy DNSSEC in the root zone has been called the biggest structural improvement to the DNS in 20 years.

Source:  Can .gov trust .com?, William Jackson, GNC, Retrieved on Jun 03, 2010 from gcn.com/articles/2010/06/07/dnssec-update.aspx

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Root zone switches to DNSSEC

The last of the internet's 13 root servers has been switched to a secure version off the Domain Name System (DNS). This means that the entire root zone for the internet is now operating using DNSSEC.

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Cloud Computing Gets Easier with Xila Cloud's Free DNS Management

“Customers can create a free account with Xila Cloud and choose to launch cloud servers or simply take advantage of our Free DNS service. Because our proprietary control panel handles cloud servers and DNS Management we’re hoping those customers that sign up strictly for our Free DNS service will find our cloud servers useful to them in the future, therefore bringing in new paying customers.”

Free DNS service does not mean that Xila Cloud just implemented basic DNS management for its Free DNS offering. Instead, the company offers a feature rich DNS platform, which is capable of handling millions of queries per second. Here is a brief overview of feature-packed Xila DNS platform.

Xila Cloud’s Free DNS includes unlimited zones, or domains, unlimited host, unlimited URL forwards, unlimited E-Mail forwards, and unlimited queries, all at no cost to users. If users are looking for a new domain this can also be handled with Xila Cloud’s Free DNS as well.

Xila Cloud also offers a domain registration service for a reasonable pricing. Its single click domain registration starts at only $12.95 per year.

Another added advantage of registering domain with Xila is: Domains registered via Xila Cloud’s control panel are added to the Free DNS platform allowing users to manage DNS on the domain immediately.

Xila Cloud’s Free DNS service supports A, CNAME, DNSSEC, LOC, MX, NS, SRV, TXT, PTR, and AAAA records with nameservers in the United States and the United Kingdom.

Source: Madhubanti Rudra, TMCnet, Cloud Computing Gets Easier with Xila Cloud's Free DNS Management, Retrived on April 28, 2010 from dns.tmcnet.com/topics/dns/articles/83269-cloud-computing-gets-easier-with-xila-clouds-free.htm

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Trusted Community Representatives Approach to DNSSEC Root Key Management

MARINA DEL REY, CA - The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names (ICANN), as the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) functions operator, seeks to improve confidence and acceptance in the Domain Name System Security Extensions (DNSSEC) security mechanism among the wider Internet community by inviting recognized members of the DNS technical community to be part of the key generation, key backup and key signing process for the root.

As part of the joint effort to secure the Domain Name System (DNS) and the Root DNSSEC key management process currently under consideration, a number of persons acting as trusted representatives of the Internet community will be sought to participate in the root key generation and signing ceremonies. These persons are called Trusted Community Representatives (TCRs).

ICANN will select 21 TCRs and a number of candidate TCRs. Initially, this will be done on a provisional basis to determine the approach's viability based on the success of the first Hardware Security Module (HSM) initialization and key generation that is scheduled for June 2010.

The selection will be based on Statements of Interest, solicited from the Internet community at http://www.root-dnssec.org/tcr/. Persons considered affiliated with ICANN, VeriSign or the US Department of Commerce may not become a Trusted Community Representative.

For more information: http://www.root-dnssec.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/ICANN-TCR-Proposal-20100408.pdf [PDF, 102 KB]

Source: Retrived on April 13, 2010 from ag-ip-news.com/GetArticle.asp?Art_ID=8167〈=en