Media Advisory: CIRA to Launch DNSSEC Test-Bed at Sector Conference
Ottawa, October 5, 2009 – Web spoofing, otherwise known as a phony site pretending to be a legitimate one, will become more difficult to perpetrate in Canada thanks to the Canadian Internet Registration Authority (CIRA). A potent new security tool called DNS Security Extensions, or DNSSEC, will soon be part of CIRA’s arsenal of weapons to counter spoofing.
CIRA will make a presentation about DNSSEC deployment for the dot-ca domain on October 6th in Toronto at SecTor, Canada's premier IT Security Education Conference. The presentation will outline how dot-ca web sites can take advantage of DNSSEC and how Canadians can protect their dot-ca domains against cache poisoning. CIRA will formally invite dot-ca domain name holders to participate in a test-bed initiative for those wanting to test and experience DNSSEC. Visit http://www.cira.ca/dnssec for more information.
DNSSEC is a set of extensions used to add an additional layer of security to the Domain Name System (DNS) - the service that translates domain names into Internet Protocol (IP) addresses. DNSSEC is a verification mechanism that allows an end-user to verify that the zone data they have been presented with was published by the person who holds the private key for that domain. Over 15 top-level domains (TLDs), including .gov and .org, are already deployed using DNSSEC. CIRA began the process of implementing DNSSEC in early 2009. With trials this year and implementation scheduled in 2010, users will have much greater assurance that dot-ca websites and email addresses are who they claim to be.
“CIRA’s commitment to DNSSEC is a critical step toward bolstering Internet security and will lead to enhanced security within the dot-ca Internet community,” explained CIRA’s President and CEO Byron Holland. “DNSSEC protects Internet servers from domain name system attacks, such as DNS cache poisoning by malicious users. Maintaining the highest possible level of security for Canadian Internet users is a significant focus for CIRA.”
CIRA maintains the authoritative DNS name servers for all dot-ca domain names and processes over 700 million requests per day to connect Internet users with more than 1.2 million dot-ca domain names.
The Canadian Internet Registration Authority (CIRA) is the not-for-profit, member-driven organization that manages Canada's dot-ca domain name registry, develops and implements policies that support Canada's Internet community, and represents the dot-ca registry internationally.
-30-
For more information on SecTor, please visit www.sector.ca.
For technical inquiries, please contact:
Adrian Buss
Manager, Operations
Phone: Phone: 613-237-5335 ext. 239
Email: adrian.buss@cira.ca
For public inquiries, please contact:
Jennifer Austin
Senior Manager, Communications and Marketing
Phone: 613-237-5335 ext. 296
Email: jennifer.austin@cira.ca
