CITC Calls for Activating the DNS Security Extension (DNSSEC)

The Communications and Information Technology Commission called on all entities and individuals registered for domain names to activate the Domain Name System Security Extension (DNSSEC) feature for their domain names, whether within their networks or with hosting service providers.

The Commission affirmed to all system administrators in various entities the necessity of ensuring that the DNS Security Extension (DNSSEC) feature is enabled on all resolvers, in order to protect the national internet network infrastructure.

The Commission revealed that the DNS Security Extension (DNSSEC) is a set of technical specifications aimed at securing and protecting the information provided by the Domain Name System (DNS), and used to increase the level of security in the domain name system, and reduce certain cyberattacks.

This trend comes as part of the Communications and Information Technology Commission's pursuit of developing the Saudi internet domain name system (.السعودية, .sa) and its fulfillment of operational and security requirements, and in response to published reports about ongoing attempts targeting internet infrastructure in general, including domain name systems (DNS).

It is noted that the Commission has offered, since 2017, the DNS security extension activation service for Saudi domain name registrants in general, with the Kingdom being the first country in the Middle East and North Africa region in applying the security extension and providing it to users in general. The Commission has held numerous training programs and workshops on the DNS Security Extension (DNSSEC) protocol aimed at raising awareness among national entities, benefiting more than 220 participants.

The Commission invited those wishing to obtain more information on this topic to visit the website: (www.dnssec.sa).