Generic Top Level Domains, or gTLDs as they are also known, follow the dot in an Internet address. There are already many to choose from, including .com, .co.uk, .net and more, yet under the new ICANN scheme, people will be able to have anything they choose after the dot - but only if they have the money to pay for it. Under the new scheme, an applicant will need to pay ICANN $187,000, with $5,000 to be paid upfront. Critics believe that the plan is a potential security risk in that "Whois", the registry where domain owners list their personal information, will be plagued with more errors that it currently is. Dan Jaffe, executive vice president for Government relations for the Association of National Advertisers said: "You find names like Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, even God. "You can't get behind those names, and often those are the sites behind a lot of cybercrime," he added. However, ICANN aims to put protections in place by taking a closer look at applicants for the new gTLDs. ICANN also believes that the cost of a custom gTLD will put off spammers and the like. Gretchen Olive, director of policy and industry affairs for the Corporation Service Company (CSC) said: "A scammer can't go and get a big company name, slightly misspelled, on a whim to run a phishing scam as it costs too much money." Cybercriminals are in the business to make money, so when they make an investment they want to see a return on investment. Roel Schouwenberg, a senior researcher for Kaspersky Lab said: "It would be very hard to get a good ROI on an investment like that. "The average cybercriminal has much better uses for spending that amount of money than creating a rogue domain," he added. "I don't think it's worth it. The old ways they're using are effective and cheap." |
