DNS: US Government sSlects VeriSign to Operate .gov Domain Name Registry

Internet security and infrastructure provider VeriSign, Inc., has been selected by the General Services Administration (GSA (News - Alert)), an administrative arm of the U.S. government, to operate the nation's domain name registry for .gov.

VeriSign (News - Alert) did not give any details of the financial part, but analysts say this is a huge deal because it covers federal, state and local government units.

It is certainly a great step forward for the Dulles, Va.-based technology giant, which is already a global registry for .com and .net –– the two biggest domain names.

VeriSign recently posted fourth-quarter results slightly above estimates following a steady rise in domain registrations worldwide. The Internet domain registration company had fourth-quarter revenue of $178.8 million, compared to $158.7 million a year earlier.

GSA has granted VeriSign the authority to provide designated domain name registration services to federal, state and local governments operating sites under the .gov and fed.us domain names.

The contract includes processing requests, help desk assistance and operation of the .gov Domain Name System (DNS) servers. VeriSign may also have to support the implementation of DNS Security Extensions (DNSSEC) on domain names.

From federal organizations like Congress and the Federal Bureau of Investigations to state and county governments and small municipalities, .gov is the registry of choice for the vast majority of government domains in the United States.

In addition, agencies such as the U.S. Forest Service (fs.fed.us) and U.S. District Court in New Mexico rely on the fed.us registry to reliably serve many more sites and the citizens who visit them.

"Verisign is honored to be granted the responsibility of operating the .gov and fed.us domain name registries," said Mark McLaughlin, president and chief executive officer of Verisign. "In addition to providing GSA the best in industry service to reliably meet its evolving demands, we are prepared to deliver value-added services that the GSA and its customers may require."