‘Registry Lock’ feature now available for .za domains

The ZA Central Registry (ZACR) has introduced a “Registry Lock” feature for .za domain names, adding an extra layer of security — for a fee — for domain owners.

“Following a process of policy development and approvals from local and international domain name authorities — the ZA Domain Name Authority and the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers respectively — the ZACR is happy to announce that it is now offering this further layer of protection for the (newer) EPP-based domain names under its management,” it said in a statement on Tuesday.

The ZACR is the non-profit company that looks after the technical and administrative well-being of .za second-level domains and various geographic top-level domains.

Registry Lock is a function that can be activated at the registry level to prevent the unauthorised transfer of domain names for .co.za, .net.za, .org.za, .web.za, .africa, .capetown, .durban and .joburg domains.

ZACR CEO Lucky Masilela described the process as “quite seamless as it requires our channel partners (EPP-accredited registrars) to provide the registry with a passphrase via a telephonic validation process to enable changes, such as updates, transfers and deletions, to be processed on a selected domain name”.

Not perfect

He explained that manual intervention, although not perfect, has the benefit of not being as easily manipulated as fully automated systems.

“Registry Lock activations attract an additional cost to the normal domain name registration fee, but the value of this type of protection is immeasurable when compared to the reputational and revenue losses that a domain name holder may suffer as a result of their domain name being hijacked,” he said.

The ZACR did not immediately disclose how extra Registry Lock will cost domain owners. TechCentral has asked for further information and will update this article once the information is provided. — (c) 2020 NewsCentral Media