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Identifier Systems Security, Stability and Resiliency (IS-SSR)

Vision

To be a trusted partner in multi-stakeholder, collaborative efforts to ensure the security, stability, and resiliency of the Internet's global identifier systems.

Mission

To preserve the security, stability and resiliency of the Domain Name System and domain name registration services, to promote user confidence and trust in these systems, and to strengthen these systems by through capability building among the ccTLD and public safety communities.

Approach

  • Prevention through threat awareness and preparedness, collaboration and information sharing.
  • Mitigation through information sharing and coordinated response
  • Adoption of best practices through collaboration and capability building.
  • Understanding through analysis of DNS data, domain registration service data and other data associated with identifier systems.
  • Security awareness through competencies lending activities.
  • Establishment of trustworthiness through transparency, communication and reliable execution.

Identifier System SSR Overview

The overall goal of IS-SSR programs is to ensure the security, stability and resiliency of the Internet's Identifier systems. To achieve this goal, ICANN will:

  • Engage actively with security, operations, and public safety communities to gather and process intelligence data that indicate (imminent) threats to DNS or domain registration service operations (the "DNS ecosystem").
  • Facilitate or participate with these same communities in threat preparedness activities to protect against or mitigate threats to DNS ecosystem.
  • Perform studies or analyze data to better understand the health and well-being of the DNS ecosystem.
  • Coordinate DNS vulnerability disclosure reporting https://www.icann.org/en/system/files/files/vulnerability-disclosure-05aug13-en.pdf
  • Lend subject matter expertise to build capability among ccTLD and public safety communities in subjects relevant to the DNS ecosystem, including DNSSEC, abuse or misuse of DNS infrastructures or operations.
  • Assist in DNS ecosystem risk management activities.
  • With ICANN's Global Stakeholder Engagements team, participate in a global, multi-stakeholder effort to improve cybersecurity and mitigate cybercrime.

Want to learn more about Identifier Systems SSR?

Listen to an audio stream archive of ICANN's Security, Stability, Resiliency Team – Outreach Session (English, Español, Français), read the transcripts (English, Español, Français), or view the presentation (English).

Visit the Security Team page for contact information. 

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Domain Name System
Internationalized Domain Name ,IDN,"IDNs are domain names that include characters used in the local representation of languages that are not written with the twenty-six letters of the basic Latin alphabet ""a-z"". An IDN can contain Latin letters with diacritical marks, as required by many European languages, or may consist of characters from non-Latin scripts such as Arabic or Chinese. Many languages also use other types of digits than the European ""0-9"". The basic Latin alphabet together with the European-Arabic digits are, for the purpose of domain names, termed ""ASCII characters"" (ASCII = American Standard Code for Information Interchange). These are also included in the broader range of ""Unicode characters"" that provides the basis for IDNs. The ""hostname rule"" requires that all domain names of the type under consideration here are stored in the DNS using only the ASCII characters listed above, with the one further addition of the hyphen ""-"". The Unicode form of an IDN therefore requires special encoding before it is entered into the DNS. The following terminology is used when distinguishing between these forms: A domain name consists of a series of ""labels"" (separated by ""dots""). The ASCII form of an IDN label is termed an ""A-label"". All operations defined in the DNS protocol use A-labels exclusively. The Unicode form, which a user expects to be displayed, is termed a ""U-label"". The difference may be illustrated with the Hindi word for ""test"" — परीका — appearing here as a U-label would (in the Devanagari script). A special form of ""ASCII compatible encoding"" (abbreviated ACE) is applied to this to produce the corresponding A-label: xn--11b5bs1di. A domain name that only includes ASCII letters, digits, and hyphens is termed an ""LDH label"". Although the definitions of A-labels and LDH-labels overlap, a name consisting exclusively of LDH labels, such as""icann.org"" is not an IDN."