Lexsynergy.com New Design

Did you notice that things look a little different over on our main website? We’d like to introduce you to the new and improved lexsynergy.com!

We’ve created a clean, modern design which will make it easier for you to navigate around our website and control panel.

• Here are some highlights of the update:A simplified design with easy to navigate pages
• Mobile friendly – visit us from your mobile phone or tablet!
• New, easy-to-use domain search function - find your domain name in a couple easy steps. From the home page, type in the domain you are looking for and click search. From there you will receive a list of results relevant to your search. Use the filters on the left to narrow down the results.
• An updated control panel – our new control panel makes it even easier to manage your domain portfolio. Quick links from your control panel’s homepage allow you to quickly register or renew domains, view your portfolio, or manage your brand protection cases. Customize these quick links so they are relevant to what you need.

We hope you enjoy our new website. If you have any feedback for us please email support@lexsynergy.com

Phishing Attacks Jump By Two-Thirds In 2016 To Highest Ever Recorded: APWG

Phishing attacks grew by 65% to 1,220,523 in 2016, according to the latest Phishing Trends Report for Q4 2016 from the Anti-Phishing Working Group (APWG), continuing an ongoing trend of rapidly growing phishing attacks.

In the fourth quarter of 2004, the APWG saw 1,609 phishing attacks per month. In the fourth quarter of 2016, APWG saw an average of 92,564 phishing attacks per month, an increase of 5,753% over 12 years.

Some of the most complicated phishing attacks have come from fraudsters in Brazil. The Brazilian attacks are using both traditional phishing and social media to defraud internet users.

.AFRICA Pioneer Program

ZA Central Registry (ZACR) is now accepting applications for its .AFRICA Pioneer Program. The purpose of the Pioneer Program is to give approved applicants preferential access to a .AFRICA domain name prior to the start of General Availability, i.e., before the general public is allowed to register .AFRICA domains from the 4th July 2017.

The Pioneer Program is open to anyone including businesses, civil society and individuals. If there is a .AFRICA domain name you want to register and you aren’t able to secure it in the Sunrise phase, we recommend taking advantage of the Pioneer Program.

Domain names that are awarded through this Pioneer Program will not have any initial registration fee. Standard renewal fees will be charged after the first year.
Applicants are required to complete an application and highlight key innovative qualities of their organisations, emphasising their relevance to Africa. Applicants also need to outline their plans to utilise their approved .AFRICA domain name.

To apply, download and complete the Pioneer Programme Terms and Conditions as well as the Application Form, then forward your application form to dotafricapioneer@registry.net.za. Once your application is approved, email Lexsynergy for assistance with processing your domain registration at support@lexsynergy.com. Applications will close on the 15th May 2017.

.CN Is The Largest ccTLD Again

329.3 million domain names were registered at the end of 2016 according to Verisign’s latest Domain Name Industry Brief. Registrations grew by 21.0 million, or 6.8%, year over year. The most notable changes in 2016 were China’s ccTLD adding 4.24 million registrations to become the largest ccTLD once again, while .tk and .net shed over 7 million and 500,000 registrations respectively.

Total ccTLD registrations were approximately 142.7 million, a 1.8% increase over the third quarter, and a 3.1% (4.3 million) increase year on year. Without including .tk, which dropped from 26 million to 18.7 million in the 12 months, ccTLD registrations increased approximately by 2.1 million (1.7%) in the quarter and ccTLDs increased by approximately 8.0 million (6.9%) registrations for the year.

.NG Tackles Internet Abuse

The Nigerian internet Registration Association (NiRA), the registry for .ng domain names, is working to deal with internet abuse within Nigeria. One of the recent steps taken is to create a desk for dealing with internet abuse within .ng.

As part of its efforts, NiRA convened a meeting of representatives of relevant law enforcement agencies and stakeholders on the need to collaborate to curtail the abuse. Agencies represented included police through the Lagos State Police Command, the Economic and Financial Crime Commission, Special Fraud Unit, ngCERT and the Central Bank of Nigeria Plc.

At the inaugural meeting, the NiRA president highlighted the high rate at which .ng domains were being used to commit crimes and that NiRA had received over 300 complaints on issues of internet abuse ranging from domain name abuses to the theft of individuals’ personal details and financial fraud.

Cybersquatting increasing in new gTLDs & .COM : WIPO

Disputes over domain names are on the rise according to the latest report from the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) on cybersquatting. In 2016 the number of cases filed under the Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP) with WIPO, the largest of the dispute resolution bodies, rose 10% over the previous year to “an all-time record 3,036 cases” while domain names disputed rose by 23.1% to 5,374. Each case can contain more than one domain name.

The number of disputes compared to the total number of domain names registered are small however still a significant increase creating unwanted costs for trademark owners. A large part of the increase is attributed to the new gTLDs. New gTLDs disputes rose to 16% of WIPO’s 2016 caseload while, according to the most recent Domain Name Industry Brief from Verisign, they represent represented 7.2% of total domain name registrations at the end of 2016.

ccTLDs accounted for some 14% of WIPO filings, with 74 national domain registries adopting the WIPO dispute resolution service.

The top sectors of complainant activity were banking and finance (12% of all cases), fashion (9%), heavy industry and machinery (9%), internet and IT (8%), biotechnology and pharmaceuticals (7%) and retail (7%). Philip Morris leads the list of filers – 67 cases – followed by AB Electrolux (51) and Hugo Boss, LEGO, and Michelin (42 each).

United Bank of Union's .BANK Success Story

Lexsynergy's client, United Bank of Union, was recently featured in a success story written by fTLD Registry. The release highlights United Bank of Union's successful launch of their .bank domain name - ubu.bank. Lexsynergy assisted United Bank of Union with their Trademark Clearinghouse validation, Sunrise application and the advanced DNS hosting for ubu.bank. It was a please to be part of the launch of their .bank site. Read the full Success Story on fTLD's website HERE.

Lexsynergy can help you with your .bank domain registration. To learn more about this protected, trusted and more secure domain extension, contact us at support@lexsynergy.com.

NGOs Getting Online With Two-Thirds Globally Using .ORG, But Wide Disparity Among Regional TLD Choices

Over two-thirds (68.3%) of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) around the world use a .org domain name to get online compared to the less than one in 10 (9.2%) that use a .com, according to the 2017 Global NGO Online Technology Report published by the Public Interest Registry. The report found 2.2% used the .ngo gTLD, 1.8% used .net and 18.5% used other TLDs, predominately ccTLDs.

There are wide differences globally as to the proportion of NGOs that use various TLDs. Around two-thirds of NGOs use a .org domain in South America, Africa and Asia while the number drops to under half in Australia and Oceania and Europe. In North America, the figure is 77%.

When it comes to ccTLDs, NGOs in the Australia and Oceania and European regions both record slightly over 40% of all NGOs using a ccTLD, while in all other regions the number of NGOs using a ccTLD doesn’t reach a quarter. In USA, part of North America, most NGOs would use a .org or .com with most of the ccTLD use coming from Canadian NGOs.

Lexsynergy Webinar - .AFRICA Launch Information

 

This webinar will cover the much-anticipated launch of the .AFRICA domain extension. We'll discuss the launch timeline, Sunrise details, costs and its implications for brand owners around the world. .AFRICA covers 54 countries that comprise the second largest continent on earth. Lexsynergy considers .AFRICA as an essential extension for the African and international businesses. Due to .AFRICA's importance, country coverage, and anticipated demand it is recommended to establish a strategy to secure core trademarks during the Sunrise launch and Landrush phases. Our webinar will guide you through the complex launch, which involves two Sunrise validation systems with various priority levels. This is one webinar that should not be missed.

Thursday, 30 March 2017
5:00 PM UTC CLICK HERE TO REGISTER

Thursday, 6 April 2017
12:30 PM UTC CLICK HERE TO REGISTER

 
Click on one of the links above to register for the webinar which will be held twice for your convenience.

Want to establish a .AFRICA strategy for your company? Email us at support@lexsynergy.com and we will set up a time to discuss how .AFRICA should fit into your domain portfolio. If you are unable to attend the webinar, recordings of all previous webinars can be found on our YouTube channel.

Rightside Announces Update to DPML Offering and Pricing

 The registry Rightside has announced an update to their DPML offering. The update will include the following changes:

• Broader Coverage: The Rightside DPML will support coverage of premium domains across Rightside's business focused TLD portfolio. This means that trademark holders can protect their brand across over 1M domains that are unprotected by the current DPML service.
• Expanded Protection: Trademark owners will also gain the ability to block up to 10 variants of their primary DMPL. Variant blocks may be used to protect common misspellings or phrases that look confusingly similar to the trademark. Variants can also be used to protect trademarks across multiple IDN languages.
• Flexible Term: Brands can choose to protect their trademark for any period between one and ten years.

All existing DPML blocks will be automatically upgraded to this new enhanced version on 17 April 2017. Due to these enhancements, the registry has also increased the cost of a DPML creation and renewal. Here is a timeline of all the upcoming changes:

17 April 2017 - All existing blocks are updated to the new enhanced DPML
17 April 2017 - DPML renewal price will increase to $1,900 (creations will remain at $527 until July)
17 July 2017 - DPML creation price will increase to $1,900

If you have any questions about these changes to your Rightside DPML block please email us at support@lexsynergy.com

Lexsynergy Webinar - Resolving Domain Name Disputes

 

Today's webinar featured a deep dive into the process of resolving a domain dispute via the Uniform Domain-Name Dispute (UDRP). Lexsynergy's Brand Protection department has been managing intellectual property rights for over 10 years and has a 100% success rate within UDRP complaints.

If you were unable to attend the webinar you can watch a recording on our YouTube channel. To learn more about taking down an infringing domain and the UDRP process, email us at brandprotection@lexsynergy.com.

.AFRICA Delegated to ZACR

After a lengthy legal battle, ICANN has officially delegated the .africa extension to ZA Central Registry NPC (ZACR). ZACR currently manages the South African ccTLDs (co.za, org.za, etc.) and city TLDs (.joburg, .capetown and .durban).

.africa will be launched in three phases: Sunrise, Landrush and General Availability. Here is the tentative launch schedule:

Sunrise: 4 April 2017
General Availability: 4 July 2017

.africa is expected to be quite popular with growing anticipation leading up to launch. Lexsynergy considers it to be an essential extension for all African corporates and those that conduct business in Africa. We recommend securing all core trademarks during the Sunrise phase and other high-value domains during Landrush or General Availability. Trademarks should be submitted to the Trademark Clearinghouse in anticipation of the Sunrise launch in April.

We will provide the finalized launch schedule and pricing details once they are available. Should you have any questions about .africa or wish to add your Sunrise domains to our automatic queue, please email support@lexsynergy.com.

Nigeria's ccTLD Develops New Strategies For .NG Growth

Recognising excellence and innovation, driving IPv6 adoption and better opportunities for registrar accreditation are among the ideas the Nigeria Internet Registration Association (NiRA) is proposing to help drive growth of its ccTLD.

Registrations of .ng domain names have steadily increased over time, but there is plenty of opportunity for growth as there were only 76,000 .ng registrations as of the end of 2016. But on the bright side, registrations almost doubled in 2016.

Recognising the importance of .ng, Reverend Sunday Folayan, the President of the Executive Board of Directors at NiRA told Nigeria’s Guardian newspaper that “domain names offer any business, individual [or] entity online presence to offer their goods and services simpler, easier and faster.” Adding That when they “are properly used in Nigeria, it will boost the [Nigerian] economy.” However, there is a negative stigma Nigerians attach to Nigerian products, and Folayan says NiRA also has to overcome this to get more .ng domain names registered and more hosting done locally.

Lexsynergy is leader in managing African ccTLDs and can help you with your .ng registration. Email us at support@lexsynergy.com.

.SK Local Requirements Removed

The registry for .sk, the ccTLD of Slovakia, has announced changes to the restrictions for .sk. Beginning 31 May 2017, the restriction that the registrant has to be local in Slovakia will be removed.

In addition, since local trustees will no longer be necessary the registry will no longer allow WHOIS protection or local trustees. The WHOIS details must reflect the details of the registrant.

When registering a .sk domain, private persons will have to fill his/her date of birth (this won't be shown on the WHOIS record). Legal persons and companies will have to fill in its ID (VAT number).

If you are currently using Lexsynergy's Local Presence service for your  .sk domain, we will work with you over the coming months to update the information on the registration. If you have any questions about these policy changes, please email us at support@lexsynergy.com

Google Chrome SSL Update: "Not Secure" Warning

Overview
To help users browse websites more securely, Google has announced that the latest release of its Chrome browser will mark all unencrypted HTTP sites as “not secure” in the browser URL. This is part of Google’s plan to discourage use of sites that don’t use appropriate security measures and to transition web traffic from potentially insecure HTTP to the safer alternative HTTPS sites.

Why is Google making this change?
Older versions of Google Chrome cannot indicate whether HTTP connections are secure. This means that when users access a site using HTTP, a hacker could intercept login information, passwords or payment data, increasing the opportunities for fraud.

A recent Google study identified that the current neutral indicator in the web browser has little impact on users, and a “not secure” warning is more effective. In labeling HTTP sites more clearly and accurately Google aims to give users more reassurance when using certain websites. Ultimately, Google plans to label sites that continue to use HTTP with a red warning triangle to indicate that these sites are not functioning securely.

When does this change take place?
Beginning in January 2017, Google’s Chrome 56 browser will label HTTP pages that include sensitive information, such as password or credit card fields, as “not secure”.

Why transition to HTTPS?
HTTPS ensures that when a user accesses a website, this data is encrypted using the Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) protocol or the more modern version, Transport Layer Security (TLS) protocol. In order to implement HTTPS, site owners must obtain a trusted digital certificate for each of their sites. Google reports that HTTPS usage is increasing substantially and that a significant portion of web traffic has transitioned to HTTPS to date.

What are the benefits of encrypting my website?

• HTTPS offers many advantages over HTTP, including powerful new features and performance including:
• Always-on SSL (AOSSL): a practical best practice to protect user data and ensure a site’s pages, cookies, APIs, and sessions are secure
• SEO benefits: Google’s search engine algorithms boost rankings of sites that use HTTPS encryption
• Performance: encrypted sites get the performance enhancements that come with HTTPS and performance is a significant search engine ranking signal
• Control: Third parties and Wi-Fi hot spots can insert ads on web pages, potentially slowing site performance and messing up the user experience
• Credibility: the reassurance of encryption to users should not be underestimated. Visual trust cues can help reduce bounce rates, abandoned shopping carts, and improve trust

Is the change in Google Chrome relevant to individual pages or the entire site?
Browsers are looking at pages, so as pages appear they examine them for password or credit card fields. If these fields are present, the site will be flagged. If no fields are present, the site is not flagged. Any pages within the site that are flagged need encryption to prevent browser warnings indicating the page is not secure.

My site isn’t e-commerce, why is this important?
Sensitive and personal data is not limited to e-commerce websites. Examples are e-mail accounts (access to an e-mail account can lead to many types of abuse) or passwords being shared for different services. That's why Google does not differentiate between types of websites.

Will my internal pages, not accessible to the general public, be subject to the same warning messages?
This is a change controlled at the browser level, not at the user level. So, you’ll still have the error messages for internal sites lacking HTTPS, which could cause confusion for users within your internal environment(s).

How can I prioritize which pages to secure?
At a minimum, start with password and credit card pages as we know these are pages that will be impacted by this change. Then, begin looking at other pages. A best practice for prioritization purposes would be to address the pages on your site with the highest traffic, as these will be visited the most and have the highest chance of a negative user experience when error messages are displayed.

Speaking of Google, will not having HTTPS impact my search ranking?
Yes, sites with HTTPS are given preference in search rankings (which has been widely publicized), so it goes to show that using HTTPS is important for your SEO activities.

What can I do next to secure my website?
Lexsynergy has a streamlined process for purchasing and managing SSL certificates. Simply login to your Lexsynergy Account and navigate to the SSL tab. There you can choose from top brands like Symantec, GeoTrust, Thawte, RapidSSL and Comodo. If you need assistance purchasing an SSL certification contact your account manager or email us at support@lexsynergy.com.

.TEL Updates - Removing DNS Restrictions and New Hosting Platform

Removing DNS Restrictions

The .tel registry has recently announced that they will be removing the DNS restrictions for .tel domains beginning 13 March 2017. This will allow .tel registrants the freedom of choice with respect to the hosting and use of their .tel domain.

Previously, all active .tel domains were required to use the registry’s Community Telhosting system. This included using their DNS and website template. .tel domains could not deviate from this template or be forwarded to another domain.

Starting 13 March 2017, .tel domains will function like any other domain. Registrants will have complete hosting and creative control over their .tel websites.

New Telhosting Platform

Telnic will be releasing a new version of the Telhosting platform. This optional platform will offer a more modern, feature rich, single page solution to hosting and publishing a .tel domain. New features will include advanced custom design capability, PayPal integration, voucher and offers, PDF publishing and image library. The new platform is not required and completely optional. Here is a timeline for the switch:

• From 13 February 2017, Telnic will issue (by email) all .tel registrants with account details to the new Telhosting platform. Once you receive the details, you can access your new account and start adding content.
• From 13 March 2017, any content you have added to the new platform will be published to the internet. From this date, any content on the current platform will stop being published on the internet. Please note that Telnic will not be performing any data migration from the current to the new platform. Therefore, if you have your contact details entered into the current platform, these details will not be automatically transferred to the new platform. 
• From 13 March 2017, all usage restrictions will be lifted from .tel and you get to choose how you use your .tel domain.

If you have any questions about these changes, please contact us at support@lexsynergy.com

Successful UDRP Recovery - paperlessport.com and peperlesspost.com

 

One of the most common techniques of typosquatters is switching a single letter within a trade mark. In this case a squatter switched letters within Paperless Post and registered both paperlessport.com and peperlesspost.com. Lexsynergy was able to prove that the domain name was confusingly similar to Paperless Post’s trade mark registration with the USPTO and that the squatter was using the domain in bad faith.

Lexsynergy was successful in recovering the domain names paperlessport.com and peperlesspost.com via a UDRP complaint.

Read the full decision here: http://www.adrforum.com/domaindecisions/1629515.htm

If a squatter has registered a domain name that is confusing similar to your trademark, the UDRP is a viable, cost-efficient way to take control of this domain. For more details, email us at brandprotection@lexsynergy.com

Ireland's ccTLD Abandons Block on Place Names In Domains

As of 20 December 2016, the Irish ccTLD manager IE Domain Registration abandoned the block on geographic names in domain names. The change means businesses and community groups that can show a connection to Ireland are now able to register domains that contain their geographic location. Any town, village or city can be applied for.

While most geographic names have been registered, options exist for potential registrants to use the placename as part of a longer name, for example, HowthRugbyClub.ie. As there are only 222,200 .ie domain names registered, there are plenty of options to choose from.

Lexsynergy is an accredited .IE registrar and can process your .IE domains for you. Email us at support@lexsynergy.com.

EURid Joins With Europol In Battle Against .EU Illegal Activity

There has been a significant decline in the number of .eu domain names EURid has suspended and deleted due to illegal activity from 2015, a record year, to 2016.

In 2015 EURid suspended 14,710 domain names and deleted 10,128. But to date in 2016 the number of suspensions have roughly halved to 5,877 to the end of November while the number of deletions plummeted to 488.

In 2015 law enforcement agencies reported 390 domain names for illegal activity leading to 339 suspensions. The number of reports from law enforcement agencies has roughly quadrupled with 1,471 domain names reported resulting in 1,447 suspensions.

In an effort to further their work combatting cybercrime in .eu and .ею (the Cyrillic version of .eu), and as cybercrime rates worldwide continue to climb, EURid has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Europol, the European Policy Agency. The MoU will see the two organisations collaborate by engaging in joint efforts related to fighting cybercrime, to exchange statistical data and trends pertaining to cybercrime, and to commit to cooperate on projects designed to combat cybercrime.

After 30 Years French and Italian ccTLDs Join the 3 Million Registrations

December saw two European ccTLDs hit the 3 million registrations mark with the .fr and .it ccTLDs reaching the milestone around a week apart. As with most ccTLDs, registration numbers have grown as internet usage increases.

For .it, whose growth has broadly mirrored that of .fr, it took 18 years until 2005 to reach one million domain registrations and then 5 years later in 2010 the 2 millionth. Registration growth slowed somewhat for the next million taking six years, reflecting that more people and businesses are online, and have registered their domain names.

.fr and .it are essential for any European business. Email support@lexsynergy.com to secure your trademarks today.

.TRAVEL Restrictions Reduced

The .travel registry has changed its registration policies, reducing the restrictions on who can register a .travel domain. Previously, only licensed travel businesses and professionals could register a .travel domain. The registry has now opened up registrations to everyone who provides or plans to provide services, products or content to the travel industry. If you are involved in the travel industry register your .travel domain with Lexsynergy.

.BANK and .INSURANCE Reverification Process

As part of the fTLD Security Requirements that support the value of trust-based .BANK and .INSURANCE domains, a re-verification of these domains must be completed at least every two years or at the time of a renewal, whichever comes first (see Requirement #20). 

Re-verification of Registrants and their domain names will be triggered under the following circumstances:

1. Domain Renewals: If it has been more than 20 months since a full verification, another full verification will be performed. If it has been 20 months or less since a full verification and no information has changed, the renewal will be processed immediately.
2. Organization Name Change: A full verification is performed.
3. Domain Transfer: If it has been 20 month or less since a full verification and no information has changed, the associated renewal will be processed immediately. If it has been more than 20 months since a full verification, another full verification will be performed.
4. Bi-annual for domains registered for longer than two years: A full verification of the information will be performed even if the information is exactly the same.

If you anticipate any of the above events for your .BANK or .INSURANCE domains this year, please ensure the information in your account is current so that any re-verification that is needed can proceed as smoothly as possible. This information includes both your Registrant Contact and Organization details, as well as the telephone number and address. 

Please note that information about the Government Regulatory Authority and ID, and HR and Manager contact information is now required by fTLD as this assists Symantec in completing the verification process in a timely manner. Please contact us if you have any updates for this information or if you did not initially provide that information so that it can be included on the re-verification order.

You should also alert your HR department and others to anticipate and quickly respond to Symantec’s request for confirmation of employment and authority so any needed re-verification can be completed as quickly and smoothly as possible. If Symantec is unable to reach someone to complete the verification, they will leave a security code on their voicemail. It’s important to understand this detail and that the person can provide the security code when they return Symantec’s call to complete the verification.

We look forward to supporting you during this process so please don’t hesitate to contact us at support@lexsynergy.com as needed.