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In a bid to bolster cybersecurity in New Zealand, the Domain Name Commission and CERT NZ have announced an agreement to share some domain registration information.
Under the deal, CERT NZ will use its access to international cyber threat and vulnerability information together with domain name registration information to alert domain owners in the .nz space to cyber security issues.
The Domain Name Commission is responsible for developing and monitoring a registrar market, as well as creating a fair environment for the registration and management of .nz domain names. Meanwhile CERT NZ was established by the government in 2016 to support businesses, organisations and individuals who are affected (or may be affected) by cyber security incidents.
“Where individuals have validly chosen our privacy option, it’s paramount we protect their privacy. Security of our domain name space critical infrastructure is equally as important. Putting this agreement in place means that we can protect that privacy while also giving CERT NZ access to some information that they need to help keep New Zealand safe,” Domain Name Commissioner Brent Carey said.
The agreement stipulates that the Commission will share regular transparency reporting which will include high-level information on the withheld data accessed by CERT NZ.
“We use our privileged access to information, such as the information we’ll be able to access under this new Memorandum of Understanding to help keep New Zealanders safe online,” CERT NZ Director Rob Pope said. “When we’re alerted to issues that may affect New Zealand domain owners, this agreement means we can access the right information at the right time.”
