Science & Technology
Science and Technology
Science and Technology
Mon, November 16, 2009 VeriSign Announces DNSSEC Deployment Support Plans to Enhance Internet Security
MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA--(Marketwire - November 16, 2009) - VeriSign, Inc. (
DNSSEC offers the potential to strengthen the infrastructure of the Internet by authenticating the origin of DNS data and verifying its integrity while moving across the Internet. DNSSEC protects the Internet community from forged DNS data by using public key cryptography to digitally sign DNS data. Digital signing can assure that the data originated from the stated source and that it was not modified in transit. DNSSEC can also prove that a domain name does not exist. As a result, DNS queries and responses are protected from the kind of forgeries that could possibly redirect Internet users to phishing and pharming sites, or "man in the middle" attacks that intercept communications between two systems.
VeriSign has made a careful and methodical roll-out of DNSSEC a strategic priority and is currently working with EDUCAUSE and the Department of Commerce (DoC) to deploy DNSSEC within the .edu TLD. VeriSign is applying lessons learned from its partnership with EDUCAUSE as well as industry-wide best practices from early DNSSEC implementations. Starting with smaller scale implementation and progressively increasing in size and learning from deployment experience, VeriSign anticipates completing DNSSEC implementation on .net and .com by the first quarter of 2011.
"VeriSign has been at the forefront of the DNSSEC effort since its beginnings in the early 1990s, and now the time is right for .com and .net," said Ken Silva, CTO of VeriSign. "Successfully implementing DNSSEC will involve the entire Internet ecosystem, from registrars and ISPs to browser vendors. Because the reliable operation of .com and .net is crucial around the world, we must take a cautious and orderly approach to this roll-out. VeriSign is committed to helping registrars and ISPs make the implementation decisions that are right for them."
"We are very pleased to be working with VeriSign and the U.S. Department of Commerce to add this important element of security to the Internet," said Greg Jackson, vice president for policy and analysis for EDUCAUSE, the association for information technology in higher education. "Higher education is increasingly dependent on trustworthy and reliable digital communication for learning, research, and outreach. Adding DNSSEC to the .edu TLD is a major step forward for our community and for the Internet."
VeriSign is working closely with domain name registrars and ISPs to assist them with their DNSSEC deployment strategies. This month, VeriSign launched a technical "boot camp" program to provide registrars, ISPs and larger registrants with the tools and training they need to assess and implement DNSSEC protections. VeriSign has also established an Interoperability Lab within its research infrastructure for vendors to evaluate the interoperability of their equipment with DNSSEC. VeriSign is inviting manufacturers of computing and network equipment to its facilities for the purposes of reviewing the functionality and operations of their equipment when DNSSEC is implemented in the .com and .net TLDs.
"DNSSEC is an important component of cyber security, but not a silver bullet," added Silva. "DNSSEC does not solve many of the most common threats to Internet security. This is why other layers of protection, such as Extended Validation SSL certificates and two-factor authentication, are so critical to making the Internet secure for everyone." For more information on DNSSEC, visit the [ VeriSign DNSSEC Resource Center ].
About VeriSign
VeriSign, Inc. (
Statements in this announcement other than historical data and information constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 as amended and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 as amended. These statements involve risks and uncertainties that could cause VeriSign's actual results to differ materially from those stated or implied by such forward-looking statements. The potential risks and uncertainties include, among others, the uncertainty of future revenue and profitability and potential fluctuations in quarterly operating results due to such factors as increasing competition and pricing pressure from competing services offered at prices below our prices, market acceptance of our existing services and the current global economic downturn, the inability of VeriSign to successfully develop and market new services, the uncertainty of whether new services as provided by VeriSign will achieve market acceptance or result in any revenues and the uncertainty of the expense and duration of transition services and requests for indemnification relating to completed divestitures. More information about potential factors that could affect the Company's business and financial results is included in VeriSign's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2008, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and Current Reports on Form 8-K. VeriSign undertakes no obligation to update any of the forward-looking statements after the date of this press release.
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