About nic.at
An exciting 2012 in store: ICANN clears the way for new top level domains and nic.at unveils Domain Strategy Year
Thursday, 12. January 2012
12 January 2012 marks a red letter day in the history of the internet. Today ICANN is opening the long-awaited applications window for new top level domains. The Austrian domain registry, nic.at, is riding in the vanguard as a technical service provider, helping to ensure that Austria’s companies will be ready for the new internet challenges that 2012 will bring. 2012 – aka the Domain Strategy Year – got underway with a nationwide survey which will be the launchpad for a comprehensive domain service package. But security will also be high on the list of priorities for the year ahead – innovations include the launch of the DNSSEC DNS security standard and a new security awareness campaign for registrars.
2011 witnessed a major milestone in the history of the internet in Austria: in the beginning of last year the .at zone breached the one million barrier, actually reporting a year on year growth of 11% with 105,842 new domain registrations in 2011. Bolstered by this success, nic.at is now ready to face the next challenge – managing applications for the new top level domains. As CEO Richard Wein explains, “In 2011 we set the signal for the future with the acquisition of a number of major projects. Now it’s time to implement them, and if the ICANN schedule holds, the first of our customers can look forward to starting in 2013.” .reise, .versicherung and .immobilie are among the top level domains that have already been confirmed. nic.at is in bidder consortiums with a number of geographical domains such as .wien, .berlin, .hamburg and .koeln which are still awaiting official clearance. “In these cases the cities themselves still have to decide which applicants to back. But we expect to hear some news in the next few days as the clock is ticking,” Wein adds. Applications for new top level domains must be submitted to ICANN by 12 April.
The internet revolution is on its way – are Austrian businesses ready?
Current estimates indicate that hundreds of new top level domains will be added to the existing portfolio of 270 in 2013. But are Austrian companies aware of the changes ahead? Do they have a clearly formulated strategy involving the ending that will maximise their visibility online? nic.at is set to find out the answers to these and other questions in a broad-based domain strategy study in spring 2012. The nic.at experts will use the findings to draw up a domain handbook for businesses so that they are in a better position to face future challenges on the world wide web. “As a competence centre for domains it is our job to provide guidance and support throughout this transitional period,” Wein explains. He does not expect this development to have any negative implications for the .at zone: “the entire market benefits if people are talking about domains. And with recall values as high as 93%, established top level domains such as .at will continue to play a major role for a long time to come.”
Security drive for .at and its registrars
The .at zone is about to become even safer. In the first quarter of 2012 the .at name servers will be upgraded to use DNSSEC technology. This will fend off attacks on the domain name system (DNS). The use of cryptographic signatures will ensure that all domain queries are issued by the required server and that is impossible to modify responses en route. nic.at will also be looking at improving security in a new project which will be run in partnership with its registrars. Chief technology officer Robert Schischka explains the background: “Phishing attacks are not confined to online banking infrastructure. Other online systems that are used to manage valuable resources such as domain portfolios are highly attractive targets, and are often far less well protected.” nic.at CTO Schischka is also the head of the Austrian Computer Emergency Response Teams (CERT) and has first-hand experience of the various attack scenarios.
European internet greats meet in Salzburg; Hamburg to host Domainpulse 2012
From 2-3 February 2012 nic.at will host the annual meeting of the Council of European National Top-Level Domain Registries (CENTR). Expected to draw around 80 delegates from all over Europe to Salzburg, the event will focus on comparing notes and outlining domain registration and internet governance best practice. Domainpulse, a leading international expert domain and internet forum will play out in Hamburg on 13–14 February. The event will be hosted by German registry Denic.
All the facts and figures on .at
Bursting with facts and figures and packed with insights into current developments in the .at zone, nic.at’s .at report will again appear three times in 2012. Alternatively, visit the nic.at homepage for updates and all the latest .at domain statistics.
Info-Links
- Domain stats:
www.nic.at/en/uebernic/statistics/
- .at-report online:
www.nic.at/en/uebernic/current_issues/at_report - Domainpulse:
www.domainpulse.de - ICANN new gTLD Programm:
http://newgtlds.icann.org/en - CENTR:
www.centr.org
Contact:
Mag. Monika Pink-Rank, nic.at PR
Tel: 0662/4669-63, monika.pink-rank
nic.at 
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