Neustar is seeing a spurt in domain name registrations using COVID: Nitin Wali

Neustar Inc., the American technology company that provides real-time information and analytics for the Internet and telecommunications industry, was recently selected to be India’s new Registry services provider by the National Internet Exchange of India (NIXI) and started operations last year in March. With extensive experience in both India and with Registry operations, Neustar wants to further the growth with increased performance and security to the .IN domain for the benefit of all internet users.

In an interview with Voice&Data, Neustar’s Regional Director Technical Services – Nitin Wali shares details on how COVID-19 has caused a spurt in the domain name registry and information on the security aspects of .IN registry. Few excerpts:

V&D: It's been a year since you took over the .IN registry in India. What has been your experience?

Nitin Wali: We are incredibly proud of the strong strategic relationship Neustar has forged with the National Internet Exchange of India (NIXI) and the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeiTY), as the newly appointed .IN Registry Technical Services Provider.

Since our appointment in March 2019, we have supported NIXI and our Registrar channel to drive .IN domain name growth, and the namespace now has more than 2.3 million domains under management. It's been a great start to the journey, and we are committed and determined to continue growing the .IN namespace and deliver the technical foundations supporting a truly Digital India.

Our goal is to deliver equal access to all Indian Internet users and remove any divide between 'digital-haves' and 'digital-have-nots.' Proudly, our Registry technology will help meet this target because, for the first time, the .IN Registry now supports all the official 22 Indian languages with full Internationalized Domain Name (IDN) integration. This is extremely critical in the times of COVID19 and can help ensure that relevant advisories, information and updates can reach all citizens in the language that they understand and are comfortable with.

Our goal is to deliver equal access to all Indian Internet users and remove any divide between 'digital-haves' and 'digital-have-nots.'

V&D: With the internet now an integral part of our lives. What changes do you see in the coming years?

Nitin Wali: In the short term, we expect to see stronger adoption of digital payments, growth in mass consumption of short-form video formats and more inherent content consumption and creation. Post COVID19, the new normal will be firmly centered on digital and making the virtual experience, be it shopping or meetings or even going to the movies as close to the real world as possible. On the lighter side, I wouldn’t be surprised if someone comes up with a shopping app that lets you bargain with sellers online! Now that would be true gamification of experiences!

But on a more serious note, in the long term, there will be more interconnected and autonomous devices supported by more significant 'Internet of Things' (IoT) adoption and Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology. The one certainty is that cybersecurity and privacy issues will continue to prevail as one of the most critical challenges online citizens face.

I wouldn’t be surprised if someone comes up with a shopping app that lets you bargain with sellers online! Now that would be true gamification of experiences!

V&D: Now that you have mentioned that cybersecurity is critical to keep safe digitally in today's times. How do you believe that can be achieved?

Nitin Wali: During the COVID19 pandemic, there has been increased activity by cybercriminals targeting those working from home, sending phishing emails for donations, ransomware fake news/updates, etc. These cybercriminals are also targeting computer networks and doubling down on DDoS attacks, hoping to make some money there. As part of the registry, we are also seeing a spurt of name registrations using “COVID”. So, I would recommend that all of us be extra careful while going online and stick to basic hygiene checks like not clicking on unknown links in emails, checking the SSL certificates of sites, and changing our passwords regularly.

Also, at a broader level, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) believes that there is an ongoing and significant risk to crucial parts of the Domain Name System (DNS) infrastructure.

Domain Name Registries must perpetually invest in enhancing existing services and developing new tools and techniques to address ever-emerging threats and challenges to security. Threats range from DDoS attacks, unauthorized EPP or domain name access, compromised Registrar or Registrant accounts, and Domain abuse that may lead to Spam, Botnets, Phishing, or used to host unacceptable and intolerable Child Exploitation content.

At this point, we are also engaging with important Indian Government stakeholders like NIXI, C-DAC, MeiTY, and CERT-In to ensure that we are always informed and prepared in the ever-changing threat landscape.

We consider these threats every day, and our goal is to address and remove them before they even get to our end-users. Neustar has an array of registry features, services, and products that deliver solutions to our clients, and is all built and managed by some of the smartest and most experienced cybersecurity experts in the industry.

Being great at something is not enough, because you need to share knowledge and collaborate with other experts and leaders. At this point, we are also engaging with important Indian Government stakeholders like NIXI, C-DAC, MeiTY, and CERT-In to ensure that we are always informed and prepared in the ever-changing threat landscape.

Just to give you a sense of Neustar's commitment to security, we have 30 global DNS nodes; we currently have over 11.8Tbs DDoS mitigation capacity, which is the largest in the world and in the past year we have done a complete refresh of our DNS sites, which improves availability, resiliency, and performance.

Our .IN Registry infrastructure deployed in India is protected by this technology, and our operations feature fully redundant operational sites with multiple vendors and no single point of failure.

We want to increase Internet penetration through the use of local languages, to help people feel comfortable and interact with locally generated content and not transcribed from English language online sources.

V&D: What are Neustar's future plans to build the .IN community?

Nitin Wali: Today, a very small portion of the Indian population is English literate and in my opinion people who had to experience the internet in English are more or less already onboard. And, to truly democratize information and the internet, Neustar along with NIXI/MeitY has introduced IDNs (Internationalized Domain Names) across all 22 national languages.

Neustar has worked closely with bodies like CDAC to help enable the introduction of all the national languages to the .IN namespace. Through initiatives like this, we support the multiplier forces that will enable the next billion to get online. We want to increase Internet penetration through the use of local languages, to help people feel comfortable and interact with locally generated content and not transcribed from English language online sources.

V&D: As the present PM Modi led Government is giving a big push to Digital India, how has it shown an impact on .IN registry?

Nitin Wali: Notwithstanding the negative effect of COVID19 on all economies, India is among the top three global economies in terms of the number of digital consumers. With 627 million internet subscriptions in 2019, up from 238.71 million in 2013, India is also the second-largest subscription market in the world. .IN is uniquely positioned for significant growth within the Indian and global domain name market.

India has a low per capita domain penetration compared to leading economies and I hope that with Prime Minister Modi and the Indian government leading the way in showing to the world what a truly digital society can look like, we will see an even higher rate of internet adoption. In a .IN domain, consumers and businesses in India see a secure, trusted reliable, relevant, and available digital real estate that empowers millions of Indian and global businesses, brands, and entrepreneurs making it a solid foundation and a building block for our digital economy.

V&D: Do you see an increase in the registry from tier 1 and 2 cities of India?

Nitin Wali: The world is a global village today thanks to the internet. Tier 1, 2 cities in India are also seeing the benefits of being part of this global village and internet adoption/usage in these cities is increasing. Today, the opportunities are not restricted only to those in ‘big’ cities and metros. You could be a two-person operation out of small town in UP, but the internet can help you scale your business multifold and reach domestic and global markets. Also, as I mentioned earlier, with the internet going vernacular, you don’t need to know English to navigate the internet and benefit from it.

V&D: What is the correlation between internet penetration and .IN registry?

Nitin Wali: India has an internet penetration rate of approximately 35% and while the growth of the internet has been stupendous over the last few years with disruption on access and pricing, we still have a long way to go. I’m optimistic that with all the steps that the government is taking to deliver services digitally, innovative internet startups using vernacular, video, and voice as delivery mechanisms taking strong roots, we will soon become the number one internet adoption country and that will be led by usage and adoption of a .IN domain!

PL: In the first week of April 2020, GoDaddy had announced it is acquiring Neustar Inc’s Registry business. Financial details of the transaction were not disclosed. The deal is expected to close in Q2 2020.