For the first time in the history of the .ch registry, the Federal Office of Communications (OFCOM) will put the administration of .ch domain names out to a public tender. The tender deadline is mid-July 2016. OFCOM will announce its decision in autumn.
.ch domain in sound health
SWITCH will take part in the tender process. The foundation began setting up the registry of .ch domain names back in 1987. The Federal Council has since declared the registry to be a critical infrastructure requiring special protection, since communication over the Internet would be impossible if it were to break down, and this would practically bring large parts of public life in Switzerland to a standstill. The Federal Office for National Economic Supply (FONES) has attested that SWITCH does an outstanding job of operating and protecting the registry.
Ever since it first created the registry, it has worked hard to ensure the secure, stable and uninterrupted operation of .ch. No other organisation in Switzerland has similar experience or a comparable record of success. It is no accident that .ch domains are among the most secure in the world. SWITCH is the first registry in the world to adopt an active stance against cybercrime – in particular the use of .ch domains to spread malicious software and the theft of personal access details for online services. Over many years of fighting cybercrime, SWITCH has built a network of contacts with authorities and Internet service providers and established and optimised processes based on mutual trust.
SWITCH: the ideal partner
SWITCH will continue to be ideally equipped for the registry function in future. It employs highly qualified experts with unique know-how in Switzerland. The security specialists at SWITCH are constantly adapting their preventive measures to keep pace with the fast-moving cybercrime economy. The foundation's key instruments in this regard are the following:
- The CERT – SWITCH's internationally renowned Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT) is part of a global early-warning and knowledge transfer network.
- The academic backbone – SWITCH operates the Internet backbone that serves Switzerland's universities. It monitors their external network traffic for irregularities. This creates synergies that SWITCH can harness to protect the whole of the Swiss Internet.
- The information security management system – the .ch registry is certified in accordance with ISO 27001. SWITCH continually reviews and optimises its security in cooperation with its partner registries and won an award together with them in 2015.
SWITCH is a neutral, independent, non-profit foundation under Swiss law and does not represent the interests of other organisations. It provides its services entirely inside Switzerland.
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