Many sectors of the global economy may be struggling, but domain name registrations continue to grow strongly with registrations across all Top Level Domains (TLDs) increasing 8.6 per cent or 16.9 million in the 12 months to end of June 2011, reports Verisign in their latest Domain Name Industry Brief. In the latest quarter, growth was 2.5 per cent or 5.2 million. Country code TLDs grew to 84.6 million registrations a 3.6 per cent increase quarter over quarter, and an 8.4 per cent increase year over year in the registrations base. The .COM and .NET TLDs experienced aggregate growth, surpassing a combined total of 110 million names in the second quarter of 2011, with Verisign refusing to separate out individual registration figures. Looking out graphs provided in the report, there are around 92 million .COM registrations and around 18 million .NET registrations. This represents a 1.8 per cent increase in the base over the first quarter of 2011 and an 8.3 per cent increase over the same quarter in 2010. New .COM and .NET registrations totalled 8.1 million during the quarter. This reflects a 2.0 per cent increase year over year in new registrations, and a 2.3 per cent decrease in new registrations from the first quarter. The order of the top TLDs in terms of zone size changed slightly compared to the first quarter, as .CN (China) moved from ninth to eighth largest TLD, dropping .EU (European Union) from eighth to ninth. The largest TLDs in terms of base size were, in order, .COM, .de (Germany, currently with 14.577 million registrations), .NET, .UK (United Kingdom – 9.559m), .ORG, .INFO, .NL (Netherlands – 4.641m), .CN, .RU (Russian Federation – 3.41m) which since this report was compiled has overtaken .EU (3.389m). CcTLD statistics are from registry websites as of 31 August. Among the 20 largest ccTLDs, Brazil, Australia and Spain each exceeded four per cent quarter over quarter growth. Last quarter, seven of the top 20 exceeded the same threshold. There are more than 240 ccTLD extensions globally, with the top ten ccTLDs comprising 60 per cent of all registrations. The .COM/.NET renewal rate for the second quarter of 2011 was 73.1 per cent, down from 73.8 per cent for the first quarter. Renewal rates vary quarter over quarter based on the composition of the expiring name base and the contribution of specific registrars. This latest Domain Name Industry Brief also looks at effectively harnessing Internet opportunities, while mitigating cybersecurity risks, which can mean the difference between success and failure for small to medium businesses. The Domain Name Industry Brief notes that while the benefits of effective online marketing and branding for SMBs have been exhaustively discussed, the mounting Internet-related challenges and cyber threats often go unaddressed until it’s too late. In 2010, The Wall Street Journal reported on an international cybercrime ring that managed to steal about $70 million from small businesses, municipalities and churches before law enforcers were able to stop it. The criminals specifically targeted small businesses because their electronic defences were much weaker than larger organizations, allowing them to steal with virtual impunity. Ironically, as larger enterprises improve their defences and make cybersecurity a larger priority, SMBs become an even more attractive target to cyber-criminals looking for easy, and profitable, targets. But despite growing threats, SMBs as a group have been slow to adopt effective security technologies and protocols. In its most recent annual survey of SMB leaders, the US National Cyber Security Alliance (NCSA) (http://www.staysafeonline.org) found that less than half of SMB owners (43 per cent) were confident that their businesses were adequately protected against data thieves. Even more alarming was the fact that more than half of those polled (53 per cent) said that the cost of securing their data and networks was not justified by the threat. That’s despite the fact that more than 74 per cent of small and mid-sized businesses have been impacted by cyber attacks over the past year, according to Symantec, which pegged the per-incident cost of such attacks at more than $180,000. Effectively mitigating those threats requires a combination of common sense security procedures and smart – but not overwhelming – investments in security technology and services. In May 2011, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) hosted a Cybersecurity Roundtable focused on protecting SMBs. The FCC offered a 10-point cybersecurity checklist (http://www.fcc.gov/events/cybersecurity-roundtable-protecting-small-businesses) for companies that included simple-but-effective recommendations like installing firewalls, regularly updating software and training employees in basic information security practices. The FCC guidelines represent an excellent starting point for any SMB with an Internet connection. But for SMBs with more extensive Internet operations – including those that base significant portions of their business on email and online transactions – those steps may not be enough. As a general rule, the more an SMB relies on the Internet, the more that SMB must devote to ensuring that its infrastructure, networks and customer-facing technologies are secure and stable. The entire host of technological threats that face large companies (from email and phishing scams to hacking and DDoS attacks) can be directed equally at SMBs, where they often have a much more serious impact. The report says that DDoS attacks can be particularly damaging to online-oriented SMBs, taking them offline for hours or even days by flooding their servers with illegitimate traffic. Cyber criminals know how damaging such an attack can be to small and mid-sized businesses and will often use the threat of a DDoS campaign to extort money from owners and network operators. For SMBs with significant online investments and business offerings, it may make sense to invest in third-party DDoS mitigation services from a company that specialises in bridging the natural technology gap that occurs when smaller organizations face large-scale threats. The value of a DDoS mitigation service is that it allows even a relatively small SMB to take advantage of enormous bandwidth capacity when they come under attack. This allows networks to stay up, and businesses to continue operating, even when they are under direct attack. Whether an SMB is an all-Internet operation, or a bricks and-mortar business that uses the Internet mainly for e-mail and administrative functions, it pays to have a clear view of the cyber threats that face all SMB owners. As is always the case in cybersecurity, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. To read more of this Domain Name Industry Brief or download previous editions, go to www.verisigninc.com/en_US/why-verisign/research-trends/domain-name-industry-brief/index.xhtml
