ICANN Announcements

Read ICANN Announcements to stay informed of the latest policymaking activities, regional events, and more.

Second Security, Stability, and Resiliency of the DNS Review (SSR2) Restarts

7 June 2018

Los Angeles – 07 June 2018 – Today the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) organization announces the formal restart of the Second Review of the Security, Stability, and Resiliency of the Domain Name System (SSR2). The formal restart is marked by the addition of new review team members to the existing roster and the engagement of a facilitator to assist the review team with the transition process.

In April 2018, ICANN Supporting Organizations and Advisory Committees (SOs/ACs) appointed four new members to the SSR2 Review Team to address the need for additional skills. These new members include:

  • Kimberly C. Claffy – Security and Stability Advisory Committee (SSAC)
  • Laurin Weissinger – At-Large Community (ALAC)
  • Rao Naveed Bin Rais – Generic Names Supporting Organization (GNSO)
  • Scott McCormick – Generic Names Supporting Organization (GNSO)

In response to the SO/AC chairs' 15 February letter and 13 March request to the Organizational Effectiveness Committee of the ICANN Board (OEC), the ICANN organization (ICANN org) has engaged an external professional to facilitate the transition process and help the review team in restarting and moving forward with its work. After reviewing facilitator profiles and guidance from SO/AC chairs, ICANN org has identified Phil Khoury of Cameron. Ralph. Khoury Consulting Services to assist the review team in relaunching its activities. Phil Khoury was distinguished by his 15 years of experience facilitating discussions, his solid understanding of the ICANN multistakeholder model, and consensus building expertise to address the scope and focus areas SO/AC chairs established in their 13 March note. His responsibilities will include:

  1. onboarding new members who have joined since the "pause" and agreeing on leadership from within the current membership;
  2. helping the group to work through concerns around membership and scope as identified in a confidential survey conducted by the SO/AC chairs shortly after the pause; and
  3. helping the review team to identify ways to reach consensus.

Next Steps

Phil Khoury will reach out to all review team members to gather input for next steps on a proposed three-day face-to-face meeting ICANN is coordinating with the review team that will take place at its office in Belgium or another identified location. SO/AC chairs noted in their communication of 13 March some key items in relation to both the work of the facilitator and expected deliverables of the work. SO/AC chairs announced in their letter that they plan to share the information gathered from their survey (conducted after ICANN60) with the facilitator to inform his work.

Background

On 28 October 2017, the ICANN Board, in consideration of concerns received, sent a letter to SSR2 to suspend its work, pending input from SO/ACs on any need to adjust the scope, terms of reference, work plan, skill set and/or resources allocated to SSR2.

The suspension generated a dialog between SO/ACs chairs and ICANN Board and led to a request for additional membership on the review team and the engagement of an external facilitator to assist the review team in resolving issues of scope, membership, and other concerns as raised (see 15 February 2018 and 13 March 2018 correspondence for more information).

About the SSR2 Review

SSR2 is mandated by ICANN Bylaws Section 4.6(c) to examine how effectively ICANN is meeting its commitment to enhance the operational stability, reliability, resiliency, security, and global interoperability of the systems and processes (internal/external) that affect the Internet's system of unique identifiers.

Review Team Composition:

Alain Aina – Country Code Names Supporting Organization (ccNSO)

Boban Krsic – Country Code Names Supporting Organization (ccNSO)

Denise Michel – Generic Names Supporting Organization (GNSO)

Eric Osterweil – Root Server System Advisory Committee (RSSAC)

Geoff Huston – Security and Stability Advisory Committee (SSAC)

Jabhera Matogoro – At-Large Community (ALAC)

Kaveh Ranjbar – ICANN Board

Kerry-Ann Barrett – Government Advisory Committee (GAC)

Kimberly C. Claffy– Security and Stability Advisory Committee (SSAC) (new member)

Laurin Weissinger – At-Large Community (ALAC) (new member)

Mohamad Amin Hasbini – Government Advisory Committee (GAC)

Noorul Ameen – Government Advisory Committee (GAC)

Norm Ritchie – Generic Names Supporting Organization (GNSO)

Ramkrishna Pariyar – At-Large Community (ALAC)

Rao Naveed Bin Rais – Generic Names Supporting Organization (GNSO) (new member)

Scott McCormick – Generic Names Supporting Organization (GNSO) (new member)

Žarko Kecić – Country Code Names Supporting Organization (ccNSO)

Find more information on the SSR2 review here.

About Specific Reviews

Specific Reviews are mandated by ICANN Bylaws and are crucial to the legitimacy and accountability of ICANN. Specific Reviews serve as ICANN's progress report to the world. They demonstrate how ICANN delivers on its commitments and identifies areas where ICANN can improve. Specific Reviews are conducted by members of the stakeholder community who look at past processes, actions, and outcomes in order to make recommendations to improve future performance. Click here to learn more about Reviews and how you can get involved.

About ICANN

ICANN's mission is to help ensure a stable, secure and unified global Internet. To reach another person on the Internet, you need to type an address – a name or a number – into your computer or other device. That address must be unique, so computers know where to find each other. ICANN helps coordinate and support these unique identifiers across the world. ICANN was formed in 1998 as a not-for-profit public-benefit corporation with a community of participants from all over the world.