When running a business, you make sure to lock the doors and set the alarm before leaving for the day. The same applies online. Customers and users who visit a website or receive an email must be able to trust who they are interacting with. Therefore, the security of a .dk domain name is always the owner’s own responsibility.
Fortunately, you do not need to be an IT expert to manage it. Since October 2020, sikkerpånettet.dk has helped Danish businesses gain an overview of their security. Behind the solution stands Punktum dk alongside a number of partners, with a straightforward goal: With a quick lookup, you get a clear assessment of the condition of your .dk domain name, as well as actionable guidance on what should be optimized.
Now, an updated version of sikkerpånettet.dk has launched with several significant improvements.
New test closes a vulnerable gap in internet traffic
The most substantial addition to the new version is a fifth test: Route Origin Authorization (RPKI) on both the .dk domain name and email servers.
Without RPKI, internet routers blindly trust information regarding who owns which IP addresses. This creates two major vulnerabilities on the internet:
- BGP Hijacking: Unauthorized parties can claim ownership of an organization's IP addresses and redirect traffic to their own servers to capture data or credentials.
- Traffic errors and outages (Route Leaks): A simple typographical error at an internet service provider can divert massive amounts of traffic to the wrong destination, causing severe delays or even taking down parts of the internet.
RPKI resolves this by adding cryptographically signed certificates (Route Origin Authorizations, or ROAs) to IP addresses. When a router receives a route, it automatically verifies whether the sender is legitimately authorized to announce traffic for those addresses. If the signature is invalid, the route is rejected immediately. Traffic consequently ends up where it belongs.
Established standards updated
In addition to RPKI, the update includes revisions to existing tests on sikkerpånettet.dk:
- HTTPS and TLS: The TLS section has been updated to align with the latest Dutch standards, which Denmark follows closely.
- Phishing protection: Updated checks for standards such as DMARC, DKIM, and SPF, as well as secure mail server connections via STARTTLS and DANE.
- Infrastructure: Fine-tuning of tests for IPv6, DNSSEC, and general security settings.
"We provide the free tool, but the work needs to be carried out by everyone holding a domain name. I believe that when you hold a domain name, you also carry the responsibility of ensuring the traffic on that domain name is as secure as possible. Sikkerpånettet.dk can help everyone achieve that. To the benefit of us all," says Jakob Bring Truelsen, CEO of Punktum dk.
It takes less than one minute to check your .dk domain name on sikkerpånettet.dk.
About sikkerpånettet.dk
Sikkerpånettet.dk is a joint initiative operated by key stakeholders across the Danish internet industry, including Punktum dk. The tool is free, impartial, and provides businesses with self-service tools for stronger digital security.
