Communications and Information Technology Commission: The Kingdom is first in the Gulf to activate the secure extension (DNSSEC) in the domain name system

The Communications and Information Technology Commission, represented by the Saudi Network Information Center, today officially activated the Domain Name System Security Extensions (DNSSEC) on the Saudi domain name system operating under the Saudi top-level domains (.السعودية and .sa), making the Kingdom the first in the Gulf to activate the secure extension in its domain name system.

The Commission explained that the Domain Name System Security Extensions (DNSSEC) is a set of technical specifications for securing and protecting the information provided by the Domain Name System (DNS), which uses the Internet Protocol (IP) system on the internet network. DNSSEC technology, which uses public-key cryptography, works to increase the level of security in the domain name system, and enables verification of the existence of information on the system as well as confirming its validity and source; this is in order to reduce certain cyberattacks known as "man-in-the-middle" attacks and "cache poisoning" attacks.

It is worth noting that the Communications and Information Technology Commission, represented by the Saudi Network Information Center, organized, in cooperation with RIPE NCC, an introductory workshop on the Domain Name System Security Extensions (DNSSEC), and a dedicated training course for internet service providers in the Kingdom and the banking sector on implementing DNSSEC during the period 11-12-13/8/1438H corresponding to 7-8-9/5/2017, as part of its efforts to develop the Saudi internet domain name system (السعودية, .sa) and work on implementing DNSSEC, with the aim of leading and building capabilities in the field of cybersecurity in the Kingdom, and enabling participation in learning about the secure domain name system extension and taking it into consideration in their networks, applications, and services.