The Swedish Internet Foundation continues to be a pioneer in the domain name system, DNS. As the first country code top-level domain in the world, automation of technical information connected to DNSSEC and name servers has been made possible.

When a holder of a domain name wants to change technical information, such as which name server to use for the domain, the holder must contact their reseller. This places high demands on both the domain owner and the reseller for everything to be correct. With handling errors, the domain and its associated services may cease to function. The Swedish Internet Foundation has now implemented two new functions – CDS / CDNSKEY and CSYNC – designed to reduce the risk of errors and to facilitate the procedures.

“The Swedish Internet Foundation continues to be pioneers in DNS. Already in 2005, the Swedish top-level domain .se, became the first to be signed with the security extension DNSSEC, which ensures that a DNS lookup has not been changed during transfer. Following the launch of CDS / CDNSKEY and CSYNC, we are taking another step towards developing the robustness of DNS. This is also the basis for other exciting projects we have initiated, including collaboration with the internet pioneer Steve Crocker. I hope that we can continue to take the lead in the future to make DNS more secure and stable,” says Carl Piva, CEO, The Swedish Internet Foundation.

Smoother for end-consumers

Using the new features, hosting companies can independently update DNSSEC information and name servers for a domain. In practice, it will usually be a matter of a hosting company changing name servers.

“If a customer has the domain name registered via a reseller, but buys the actual hosting services from company X, the hosting company can now handle both DNSSEC signing of the domains and change information about name servers. Previously, the customer had to personally request that the changes be made at the domain name reseller,” says Nicklas Pousette, Head of DNS Labs, The Swedish Internet Foundation.

A number of organizations have already implemented the CDS / CDNSKEY functionality, which thus enables automatic updating of DNSSEC's signing keys. The Swedish Internet Foundation is the first in the world, among country code top-level domains, to implement the CSYNC function. The changes apply to both the .se and .nu zones.

About The Swedish Internet Foundation

The Swedish Internet Foundation is an independent, business-driven and non-profit organisation. We work to create and maintain an internet that contributes positively to people and society.

We are responsible for the internet's top-level Swedish domain .se, and we also manage the operation and administration of the top-level domain .nu. The income from the business finances a number of investments in order to enable people to use the internet in the best way, and to stimulate knowledge sharing and innovation with a focus on the internet.

Examples of our initiatives are the start-up and meeting place Goto 10, The Swedes and the Internet report, the learning resource Digital Lessons, the Internet Days Conference and the internet connection measurement tool Bredbandskollen. Our vision is that everyone in Sweden wants, dares and is able to use the internet.