VeriSign’s Domain Name Industry Quarterly Brief provides meaningful, fact-based analyses on topics of interest to the Internet community. The briefs draw on a variety of statistical and analytical research, such as DNS (Domain Name System) intelligence, user studies and independent registrar surveys. Highlighting key performance indicators and growth opportunities, the purpose of each brief is to offer an in-depth look at the quarterly topics and provide a deeper understanding of evolving trends in the domain name market.

According to the second quarter 2009 Domain Name Industry Brief published by VeriSign, the midpoint of 2009, there was a base of 184 million domain name registrations across all of the Top Level Domain Names (TLDs). This represents a one percent growth over the first quarter of 2009 and a nine percent growth over the same quarter of last year. The base of Country Code Top Level Domain Names (ccTLDs) rose to 74.4 million domain names, a 14 percent increase year over year and a one percent increase quarter over quarter. In terms of total registrations, .com continues to have the highest base followed by .cn (China), .de (Germany) and .net.

The overall base of .com and .net domain names grew to 93.5 million domain names during the second quarter of 2009. This represents a one percent increase over the first quarter of 2009, a seven percent increase over the same quarter of the previous year, and a 28 percent increase over the second quarter of 2007.

VeriSign's average daily Domain Name System (DNS) query load during the second quarter increased from 38 billion to 49 billion per day, resulting in hundreds of millions of Internet users accessing Web sites or sending email. This is a 29 percent increase from the 38 billion daily queries average in first quarter 2009. Managing the increasing traffic on the Internet reflects VeriSign's continued investments in its DNS infrastructure, which have enabled the company to maintain a record 100 percent uptime of its network over the past 11 years. That track record has earned VeriSign the reputation of being one of the most reliable and trusted networks in the world.

VeriSign publishes the Domain Name Industry Brief to provide Internet users throughout the world with significant statistical and analytical research and data on the domain name industry and the Internet as a whole. Copies of the 2009 second quarter Domain Name Industry Brief, as well as previous reports, can be obtained at www.verisign.com/domainbrief.

More than 95 million Web sites – including 80 million using .com names and 15 million using .net names – will have access to new security mechanisms that prevent visitors from being unknowingly sent to phony sites engaged in phishing and pharming attacks.

VeriSign announced Monday that it will meet its goal of supporting DNS Security Extensions – dubbed DNSSEC -- in the .net and .com top-level domains by March 2011.

DNSSEC uses public key cryptography and digital signatures to allow Web sites to verify their domain names and corresponding IP addresses. DNSSEC prevents hackers from hijacking Web traffic and redirecting it to bogus sites, which are called cache poisoning attacks.

DNSSEC is viewed as the best way to bolster the DNS against vulnerabilities such as the Kaminsky bug discovered last year. In fact, security researcher Dan Kaminsky recommends widespread deployment of DNSSEC.

VeriSign has been working on DNSSEC deployment with Educause, a non-profit organization that operates the .edu domain for universities and colleges. VeriSign and Educause are hosting a DNSSEC testbed for universities to trial new DNS authentication mechanisms. VeriSign says it will have DNSSEC fully operational on .edu by March.

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