[co-author: Sean Kelly]

NASK, the organisation responsible for the Top Level Domain .PL (Poland), recently announced the introduction of a Registry Lock service for .PL domain names.

Locking a domain name at the Registry level provides an added layer of security against domain name hijacking. Domain name hijacking occurs when an attacker gains unauthorised access to registration data for a domain name, thereby gaining administrative control over the domain. This enables them to modify several elements of the domain name, including the website to which it resolves.

The .PL Registry Lock service will work in a similar way to Registry Lock services already offered by other Top Level Registries, such as Verisign for the extensions .COM, .NET, .TV, .CC and .NAME, Afnic for .FR (France), The Internet Foundation in Sweden for .SE (Sweden), and CIRA for .CA (Canada).

The .PL Registry Lock service will ensure an extra layer of protection in that the following changes to the domain name will not be possible while the lock is active:

1) Deletion of domain name

2) Change of contact information or other data

3) Transfer of the domain name to another registrar

4) Re-delegation of the domain name

5) Delete or change of IP of a name server

This service will be offered by .PL accredited registrars. The Registry Lock activation procedure will be a manual process initiated by the registrar by sending NASK a Registry Lock activation request in accordance with the procedure in place. The Registry Lock deactivation procedure will be initiated in the same way as the activation procedure.

This post is selected from our Anchovy News publication: Anchovy® is our comprehensive and centralised online brand protection service for global domain name strategy, including new gTLDs together with portfolio management and global enforcement using a unique and exclusive online platform developed in-house.

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