Centrum Wiskunde & Informatica DNSSEC and IPv6 accessible

The cwi.nl domain from the Centrum Wiskunde & Informatica (CWI) in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, is, as one of the first domains in the Netherlands, secured by DNSSEC. DNSSEC is an addition to the domain name system (DNS) to improve the security of Internet systems.

Publication date
6 Jun 2012

The cwi.nl domain from the Centrum Wiskunde & Informatica (CWI) in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, is, as one of the first domains in the Netherlands, secured by DNSSEC. DNSSEC is an addition to the domain name system (DNS) to improve the security of Internet systems. In 1986 CWI was a pioneer with the registration of the cwi.nl domain. Piet Beertema from CWI managed the .nl zone for many years. The Foundation for Internet Domain Registration in the Netherlands (SIDN), current administrator of the .nl domain, officially put DNSSEC into production in May 2012. CWI has already been participating in tests since June 2011.

On 6 June 2012, www.cwi.nl also officially became IPv6 accessible. IPv6 – Internet Protocol version 6 - is a necessary complement to and replacement of the current IPv4 Internet address system. Due to the strong growth of the Internet, IPv4 addresses are almost all assigned and a new system is needed. On 6 June 2012 the Internet Society (ISOC) therefore organized a global event for IPv6 awareness, the World IPv6 Launch Day. CWI is pleased to cooperate and, from this day on, offers its website www.cwi.nl on IPv6.

"Proceeding to IPv6  is more complex than, eg,  introducing IBAN bank account numbers, or new telephone numbering plans, since not everyone changes at the same time and addresses will not be remapped 1-on-1" says Aad van der Klaauw, Senior IT Specialist from CWI. “For now, users do not notice much difference. However, providers and systems administrators do experience changes – they temporarily have to link and maintain two systems. A lot of equipment and software has to be replaced and adjusted, but it is necessary. CWI is glad to cooperate in a successful migration to IPv6."

Van der Klaauw further urges users to increase their knowledge of DNSSEC and IPv6 by answering some questions and a few tests: "What do DNSSEC and IPv6 mean for you? Are you (unconsciously) using them already? Test this on your tablet or smartphone via GSM / GPRS with:


http://dnssectest.sidn.nl/test.php
http://omgipv6day.com/ or
http://www.ipv6-test.com/  ".

More information:
http://ipv6launch.nl/
http://www.worldipv6launch.org/
http://www.worldipv6day.org/