[lacnog] Fwd: Root Signing announcement

[Francisco Arias]

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Steve Crocker <steve en shinkuro.com>
Date: 2009/6/3
Subject: [dnssec-deployment] Root Signing announcement
To: DNSSEC deployment <dnssec-deployment en shinkuro.com>
Cc: Steve Crocker <steve en shinkuro.com>


Both ICANN and NIST are displaying a press release that the U.S. Dept
of Commerce, ICANN and VeriSign have agreed to work together to get
the root signed by the end of the year.

Here are the URLs for the ICANN and NIST press releases.

http://www.icann.org/en/announcements/announcement-2-03jun09-en.htm

http://www.nist.gov/public_affairs/releases/dnssec_060309.html

The text of the NIST press release is copied below.

Steve



Commerce Department to Work with ICANN and VeriSign to Enhance the
Security and Stability of the Internet’s Domain Name and Addressing
System

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
June 3, 2009

WASHINGTON —The U.S. Department of Commerce's National
Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) and National
Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) announced today that the
two agencies are working with the Internet Corporation for Assigned
Names and Numbers (ICANN) and VeriSign on an initiative to enhance the
security and stability of the Internet. The parties are working on an
interim approach to deployment, by year’s end, of a security
technology—Domain Name System Security Extensions (DNSSEC)—at the
authoritative root zone (i.e., the address book) of the Internet.
There will be further consultations with the Internet technical
community as the testing and implementation plans are developed.

The Domain Name and Addressing System (DNS) is a critical component of
the Internet infrastructure. The DNS associates user-friendly domain
names (e.g., www.commerce.gov) with the numeric network addresses
(e.g., 170.110.225.163) required to deliver information on the
Internet, making the Internet easier for the public to navigate. The
accuracy, integrity, and availability of the data supplied by the DNS
are essential to the operation of any system or service that uses the
Internet. Over the years, vulnerabilities have been identified in the
DNS protocol that threaten the authenticity and integrity of the DNS
data.  Many of these vulnerabilities are mitigated by DNSSEC, which is
a suite of Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) specifications for
securing information provided by the DNS.

“The Internet is an ever-increasing means of communications and
commerce, and this success is due in part to the Internet domain name
and addressing system,” said Acting NTIA Administrator Anna M. Gomez.
“The Administration is committed to preserving the stability and
security of the DNS, and today’s announcement supports this
commitment.”

"NIST has been an active participant within the international
community in developing the DNSSEC protocols and has collaborated with
various U.S. agencies in deploying DNSSEC within the .gov domain,"
said Cita M. Furlani, director of NIST's Information Technology
Laboratory. "Signing the root will significantly speed up the global
deployment of DNSSEC and enhance the security of the Internet.”

The NTIA in the U.S. Department of Commerce serves as the executive
branch agency principally responsible for advising the President on
communications and information policies. For more information about
the NTIA, visit www.ntia.doc.gov.

As a non-regulatory agency, NIST promotes U.S. innovation and
industrial competitiveness by advancing measurement science, standards
and technology in ways that enhance economic security and improve our
quality of life. For more information visit, www.nist.gov.