Only three days into December, and the month is already filled with excitement.  We made two announcements about security initiatives that we believe will make .CO one of the safest, most secure domain extensions on the Internet.  And now, we’re off to Cartagena to host the 39th ICANN public meeting – where the topic of security is always at the front and center of everyone’s mind.
 
.CO will begin testing Domain Name System Security Extensions (DNSSEC) starting in January 2011, with implementation planned for the first half of the year.  In addition to this, we officially launched .CO’s Rapid Domain Compliance Process yesterday, which gives the registry the tools we need to quickly bring into compliance any domain name that is being deployed for fraudulent, malicious or criminal purposes.
 
The process is triggered when we identify and investigate credible threats that come to us through a variety of channels, including private complaints, public alerts, law enforcement agency tip offs, and the like.  But rest assured, we’re not just passively fielding third party reports.  Along with our own growing team of in-house security specialists, through the industry leading security labs of our partner Neustar, we’re actually proactively monitoring the .CO namespace on a continuous basis to ensure for the safety and security of registrants and users.
 
Let’s face it, security is one of the preeminent issues facing the Internet ecosystem -- and we want to be at the forefront of meeting this challenge. That’s why we are so proud to be working with Neustar and its crack team of security specialists.
 
Want to know just how “crack” is the Neustar team really is?  Then I urge you to watch this short video, which aired just last week on the MacNeil-Lehrer News Hour on PBS.  It will give you a better sense of just how serious and dynamic the Internet security threats that face all of us truly are – and just how important proactive monitoring and management of these threats will continue to be if we are to meet and the ongoing challenges of internet security.

Nicely done Neustar! We couldn’t be more proud to be partnering with you to keep the .CO name space safe and secure.