Good News from China

As outlined in our recent report Mapping the Mal Web, the People’s Republic of China’s top-level domain (.cn) is currently one of the riskiest domain names to surf due to numerous malware downloads and other risky sites. However, this state of affairs may now change for the better:

On December 11 the China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC), the state network information center of China, released an update regarding its auditing of domain name registrations. As of today, domain name applicants must submit a formal paper-based application when making an online application to the registrar. This includes the original application form with business seal, company business license, and a photocopy of the ID.

This change will make the .cn domain very unattractive for criminals and fraudsters who are looking for domains for which they can register anonymously, preferably paying with stolen credit card information. This would be a great step in making the domain name space of .cn a safer place. And if these measure are implemented as announced, it would in fact make China a leading example in the fight agains fraudsters on the Internet.

I do hope that one small part of the announcement suffered just a bit in translation:

“3. From the day of the submission of online application, if CNNIC does not receive the formal paper-based application material within 5 days or the application material auditing is not qualified, the domain name to be applied will be deleted.”

I hope this means the application, not the domain, will be deleted after being in service for just five days. If not, this has the potential to become “Domain Tasting 2.0.”