The New .AU Domain Name & Cybersecurity

From today, 24 March 2022, anyone with a local connection to Australia, including businesses, associations and individuals can register a new category of domain name.

The shortened, simpler domain names will end in .au rather than .com.au, .net.au, .org.au, .gov.au or .edu.au.

If you currently hold a domain name in any other .au namespace, you’ll be able to apply for Priority Status to register its exact match in .au during the next six months.

All Australian businesses have until 20 September to reserve their .au equivalent domain name, then it becomes available to the general public.

While this new category of domain name allows users to register shorter, more memorable online names, the Australian Cyber Security Centre has warned that it also opens up another avenue for cybercriminals to conduct fraudulent cyber activities.

Opportunistic cybercriminals could register your .au domain name in an attempt to impersonate your business.

As an example, if you currently have registered yourbusiness.com.au, a cybercriminal could register yourbusiness.au or yourbusinesscom.au and use these domains to conduct fraudulent cyber activities.

To help protect your business from cybercriminals, the ACSC recommends that all Australian businesses with existing domain names register their .au equivalents before the 20 September 2022 deadline.

If a business does not reserve an .au equivalent direct domain name during this six-month period, that name becomes available to the public on a first come, first served basis.

Our Technology services team is available to assist with the domain registration and to discuss the best ways to protect your business from cybercriminals.

Please ring Hood Sweeney Technology on 1300 764 200 to find our more, or to book our service.