For .post, the sector's top-level Internet domain, to become the secure platform it intends to be, Internet security must be strengthened.
That was the key message from Edouard Dayan, UPU director general, speaking by live video link at the Global Cybersecurity Centre's first workshop in Italy.
Backed by Poste Italiane, the Rome-based centre has gathered international experts to discuss Domain Name System Security Extensions (DNSSEC). The latter help to prevent phishing and other cyber crimes by signing and authenticating legitimate websites.
The two-day workshop, organised in association with the UPU, focuses on the benefits of DNSSEC and the latest implementation initiatives to increase the security and reliability of the Internet Domain Name System.
These will be particularly relevant for .post as DNSSEC has been chosen as the technical standard to ensure its security by the UPU’s Postal Operations Council.
When .post eventually goes live, it will be the first top-level domain to utilise DNSSEC from day one.
Crucially secure
Paul Donohoe, the UPU’s electronic postal services manager, says DNSSEC is crucial topositioning .post as a secure platform. “We are building .post as a safe and secure and trusted space on the Internet for e-commerce, e-government and electronic postal services all provided by the postal industry,” Donohoe said. “For us to be able to ensure trust and security, we need the underlying technical infrastructure of the Internet to be secure as well.”
Security is the major challenge facing the Internet today. According to VISA and other credit card companies, fraud worth US$10 billion is committed online every year.
Thanks to a longstanding cooperation between Poste Italiane and the UPU, the latter’s member countries will benefit from the centre’s know-how due to a recent agreement.
The UPU made Internet history in December 2009 when it became the first United Nations agency to be granted a sponsored top-level domain. This is an Internet suffix like .mobi or .aero.