Business owners in Australia are warned about cyber-attack dangers amid changes to Australian internet domains.
The Australian Government had announced a new policy for the.au domain name, which was to be implemented on 24th March 2022. The new policy protects consumers and businesses from malicious websites by preventing them from accessing legitimate sites.
Businesses are being warned to prepare for a significant change to Australian web domain names next month.
The new rule was introduced to allow anyone with an Australian connection to register the shorter .au domain for their website rather than the existing .com.au or .net.au.
Criminals may exploit shorter .au domains when they become available next month, as it will not be possible to access the longer.com.au or.net.au addresses.
The .au Domain Administration (.auDA) decided that Australian businesses with an existing domain name would only have until 20th September to reserve or register their equivalent .au domain name before it became available to the general public.
Cybercrime warning for businesses after the change to Australian web domains.
Cyber security experts have raised concerns over the potential impact of this move on the cybersecurity industry. They say that the new policy could put small businesses at risk of being targeted by hackers who use shortened URLs to mask their identity.
Bruce Billson, Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise ombudsman, said that the short deadline for the changeover could lead to a rise of cyber criminals taking advantage. He also added that many businesses could have their brand or identity impersonated.
In addition to the new policy, there are plans to introduce legislation to combat cybercrime. This would include creating a national data breach notification scheme and giving the Government more extraordinary powers to investigate breaches.
There are also fears that the Government's decision to remove the.com.au and.net.au extensions could leave many small businesses without a way to reach customers.
In addition, some companies using the.com.au extension to market themselves online could lose out on traffic because of the change.
"I implore all small business owners to take a few minutes to work out if they want the shortened .au domain or will be unhappy for someone else to have it," he said.
"If you want it, small business owners, I urge you to take a few minutes and a few dollars to register it or potentially face someone else grabbing it and using it to ambush your business digitally. They may demand big dollars later to surrender it to you, misuse it to masquerade as you or help them engage in cybercrime."
He added that we are "not surprised that very few people know about it, as the public awareness campaign has been less than impactful. But, I want to ensure small businesses avoid a horrible surprise when they find someone else is using or misusing the shortened version of their key digital asset as their domain name".
Mr Billson wrote to the auDA expressing his concerns and urging it to extend the 20th September deadline, but the regulator rejected his request. "So, all I can do is try and make sure small, and family businesses are not caught short when it comes to the shortened .au domain name," he said.
"So far, more than 3 million domains with .au have been registered."
"The consequences of not registering your existing business name by this deadline could be catastrophic for a business if a rival or someone else took their online name. Domain names are very much the identity of a business and critical to its success. Small businesses cannot afford to have their identity sold to someone else."
Have you registered the shorter Domain name .au?
If not, then do so now! You can register your.au domain name at any time, but if you don't, it will expire on 20th September 2022. Registering a short domain name gives you more flexibility when choosing a new website address or redirecting an existing one.
If you do not register a shorter .au domain name, then your competitors, spammers or even cyber attackers can take advantage of this situation and use your.au domain name.
Register your .au domain name today!
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