In the first three months of 2021, three countries have joined the ranks of those with DNSSEC-signed country-code Top Level Domains (ccTLD) and security keys deployed in the DNS root zone.
Just about every Internet communication starts with a Domain Name System (DNS) lookup. The DNS is an essential piece of Internet infrastructure that translates human-friendly names (internetsociety.org) into computer-friendly numbers (2001:41c8:20::b31a).
Like many other components of the Internet, the DNS started out in an insecure form in a vastly different Internet landscape. Today, security and trustworthiness are vital foundations for the ongoing evolution and growth of a robust Internet that benefits users everywhere. DNS Security Extensions (DNSSEC) was developed to provide an additional level of security using cryptographic techniques to validate the authenticity of DNS information.
To date, 140 countries have DNSSEC-enabled ccTLDs with Bahrain (.bh), Federated States of Micronesia (.fm) and Fiji (.fj) all joining this group in the first quarter of 2021. While formally a ccTLD, .fm is a bit of a special case having been rebranded as a home for Internet radio, podcasting and streaming services.
Signing the domain and installing security keys in the root zone of the DNS is only a first step to more widespread DNSSEC deployment, but it’s an important one. Incentivising registrants to sign their domains is also key, as is encouraging ISPs to enable DNSSEC validation in the recursive resolvers they provide to their subscribers.
You can continue to observe the steady increase in ccTLD DNSSEC adoption (and now the adoption of DNSSEC validation too) via our Pulse Enabling Technologies page.
Photo by chris panas on Unsplash