Secure your .au domain before September 20
What businesses need to do to protect their online property before the .au goes public.
On September 20, Australian businesses will lose priority allocation to secure a new .au domain extension, before it goes open to the general public.
The non-government Domain Administration (auDA) regulator opened the new .au domain in March of 2022, exclusive to businesses with verified activities in Australia. That is until September 20, when the domain will be available for anyone to purchase, unverified, from anywhere in the world.
Bruce Billson from The Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman has warned businesses must take action now to secure and protect their brand from potential “domain squatters” who may try to rort or blackmail the .au domain rights back to legitimate businesses with a similar domain .com.au name.
At ShadowSafe, it’s our view that the shortened .au domain will eventually take over in popularity from the .com.au, and therefore businesses should strongly consider securing their .au domain now, and not risk losing it to a competitor—or a cyber-crimal.
“This new domain paves the way for more brand impersonation attacks and schemes by malicious actors. It’s not worth taking that risk”, says James Bartrop.
“For a very small cost, we can secure this new domain and potentially thwart off an impersonation attack.”
Take action now
ShadowSafe Managed IT clients wanting to secure their .au domain should submit a support ticket as a soon as possible.
This form is for ShadowSafe clients only. If you’re looking for a Brisbane-based cyber security and IT provider, book a call with James and our team today.
Further reading: www.auda.org.au
