Gov Domain Name Trust And Security
In April 2021, the General Services Administration transferred oversight of the .gov top-level domain to the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency . This transfer came with a mandate to enhance security for the domain, which is considered to be critical infrastructure. Eric Goldstein1, Executive Assistant Director for CISAs Cybersecurity Division states:
Using .gov and increasing trust that government communications are authentic will improve our collective cybersecurity People see a .gov website or email address and know they are interacting with an official, U.S.-based government organization. Using .gov also provides security benefits, like two-factor authentication on the .gov registrar and notifications of DNS changes to administrators, over other TLDs. Well endeavor to make the TLD more secure for the American public and harder for malicious actors to impersonate.
Eric Goldstein1, Executive Assistant Director for CISAs Cybersecurity Division
180 days: Present a strategy to the committees for using collected data to counter malicious cyber-activity. Inventory all .gov host names and services in active use.
1 year and every two years thereafter for four years: Must submit a report to the committees or conduct a detailed briefing to the committees on the status of the outreach strategy, the security enhancement strategy and implementation plan, the inventory of .gov domains, and supporting services to state and local governments.
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Why A Good Domain Name Is Important
A domain name is your unique identifier among billions of other websites on the web. Thats why having a memorable and easy-to-type name is essential for having an online presence.
Your domain name serves as an extension of your personal or business name. In that sense it:
- Improves recognition and awareness.
- Adds extra credibility to your venture.
- Eventually boosts visitors recall.
Also, choosing a good domain name is important for SEO. Several years ago exact match domains were all the rage, but today most people choose brandable domain names.
Memorable domain names get typed to Google more frequently. Algorithms keep track of that and assign more authority to your website. As the branded search volume grows, your domain name earns extra authority points, so that it gets easier to rank for related keywords.
With that being said, lets move on to the how-to part.
Gtlds: Generic Top Level Domains
A generic top-level domain is an extension that does not rely on a country code. There are no specific criteria to get a gTLD. However, some extensions are sponsored by designated agencies or organizations.
Some generic TLDs are restricted to specific types of registrants. For example, an academic institution can use .edu, and a governmental agency can use .gov. If your domain does not fall under particular categories or institutions, you will not be able to use the extension.
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The Importance Of Secure Email Systems And Govuk Domains For Local Councils
Almost all local councils now have an official website, as well as official email accounts. An increasing number of councils also provide official email accounts for their councillors as well as for their clerk and other officers. When choosing a domain name for the councils website and emails, many local council websites are appropriately making use of the exclusive GOV.UK domain , with email addresses being linked to that domain as well.
There are a number of important reasons why local councils of all sizes should ideally obtain an appropriate GOV.UK domain name for their council, and equally importantly, a secure and centrally-managed email system to sit behind it.
First and foremost, obtaining a GOV.UK domain for your council website and email accounts demonstrates the councils official local government status. Members of the public are increasingly cyber security-aware, so a GOV.UK domain can also help to build trust, credibility and visibly demonstrates authenticity. Many people will now reasonably expect a local council to have a GOV.UK domain name.
Find out more information about obtaining a GOV.UK domain name
Your county association may also be able to offer advice and support in this area and you should seek advice from them in the first instance. Some county associations even have local deals with other tier authorities, offering GOV.UK email accounts with existing domains for example.
Find The Org Space And App For A Route
If you know a route is mapped to an application on cloud.gov, but youre not sure which application it is, you can install and use cf-route-lookup. This is a CF CLI plugin.
You need to log into the CF CLI to use this tool, and it will only show you information from orgs and spaces that you have permission to view.
> cf lookup-route example.govBound to:example-org/example-space/example-app
If you look up a route mapped to an application in an org or space that you cant access, youll see Error retrieving apps: Route not found.
If you look up a route that isnt mapped to any application on cloud.gov, youll see Error retrieving apps: Could not find matching domain.
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How To Buy A Website Domain For Ever
As we explained, domain names are not for complete sale. Essentially, you are reserving domain name usage for a set period . But you can keep renewing your domain name as many times as you want to.
While you cannot buy it out for good from a registrar, you can hold on to your domain name for as long as you are paying your renewal fee.
How To Register A Govng Domain Name With Domainking
.GOV.NG is a cctld restricted for Government Organizations in Nigeria. It can only be registered by Government agencies, MDAs, Local Goverment, and Federal Governments in Nigeria.
To register a .gov.ng domain, you would need to submit some documents to prove that you are a regulated/legal Government Organization in Nigeria.
For registering a .gov.ng domain you need to follow the following steps:1. Search & Register your domain name: Check if the gov.ng domain that you want to register is available and then place order for your domain.
You can check the availability & place order for your gov.ng domain from our ng domains page.
2) Complete your order by making the payment for your domain.
3) Complete all the Requirements/Submit your Documents:Please note .GOV.NG is a restricted domain & to activate your domain you need to send us the following documentsa) Get an authorization letter from the ministry or agency requesting for the domain name.b) Mention in the letter, the admin and technical contact person/name & address details of the domain. The contact person should be a permanent staff of the ministry and not a tenured staff.
Letterhead of the ministry or agency
4) We will send your Documents to the .NG Registry for Approval:After you send us the documents we will forward your registration to NIRA . Then NiRA sends the request to NITDA for verification and approval.
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How Do I Make My Website Mobile Friendly
Globally, 62% of users access the internet using a mobile phone, which means having a mobile-friendly website is key for reachingpotential visitors. Mobile-friendliness is also a crucial aspect of SEO.
Thats why Website.com makes it easy to make your website design optimized for mobile, with tools to refine text placement and mobiletemplates with a hamburger style menu. You can create a mobile version of your website in one click, and use the mobile editor tofurther enhance your mobile site.
Write About A Politician For Backlinks
Another unique way to get .gov backlinks is to write positively about a local politician and post the article on your website. Next, you send that URL to the local government or politicians office so they know it exists.
Politicians love to share articles that praise their policies and character and this link building strategy can work in your favor to get backlinks from GOV sites. This tip was also featured in another guide answering the question, what are the best ways to get .edu and .gov backlinks?
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After You’ve Been Approved For Get A Massgov Domain Name For Your Government Website
Disallow traffic to any non-government domains
If you requested a CNAME record and a vendor is hosting your new site on their network, then your site may be available in 2 places once your mass.gov domain name has been set up: on mass.gov at your requested domain name, and on your vendor’s site at the FQDN they provided for your DNS records request.
Since all Commonwealth government websites must use a mass.gov domain, you’ll need to work with your vendor to disallow traffic to their FQDN and ensure that mass.gov is the only place where people can find your new website.
Request an SSL certificate
In order to get set up to use Mass.gov’s secure HTTPS, you’ll need an SSL certificate. Like a DNS record, this can be requested through ServiceNow. Learn more about requesting an SSL certificate here.
How To Update The List
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Some Things To Keep In Mind
Typically, when you register a domain, your personal information, including name and address, is attached to it and shown publicly in a database called WHOIS by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers . GoDaddys free privacy protection is included with every domain registration and means that the WHOIS database will display GoDaddys own information while keeping your personal details private.
Domain registration is often included when you sign up for certain bundled website builders and web hosting services. GoDaddy includes one year of domain registration when you use its website builder or hosting services. But these services arent always necessary, so to keep things simple, this guide will only explain how to buy a domain with GoDaddy.
To learn more about whats included in GoDaddys website builder, check out our guide to GoDaddy Pricing and Plans.
How To Get A Free Web Site
This article was co-authored by wikiHow Staff. Our trained team of editors and researchers validate articles for accuracy and comprehensiveness. wikiHows Content Management Team carefully monitors the work from our editorial staff to ensure that each article is backed by trusted research and meets our high quality standards.The wikiHow Tech Team also followed the articles instructions and verified that they work. This article has been viewed 212,405 times.Learn more
This wikiHow will teach how to go about setting up your very own website for free. After all, not all of us have money to be dropping on a domain name, a hosting platform, and a web designer. Luckily there are a lot of really great free options available online if you know where to find them . Well walk you through everything you need to know to get started setting up your website, like how to find a free web host and get a domain name at no charge.
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Who Can Register Nswgovau Domain Names
nsw.gov.au is a closed domain space, available for use by NSW Government and local council organisations within NSW only.
A registrant must be:
- an organisation established by an Act of Parliament or government-only regulation as a government department or agency
- a local government entity
Your application is then forwarded to NSW Government Domain Administrator to check it complies with the Domain Policies and Guidelines.
Until further notice, the Department of Customer Service is covering the cost of domain registrations.
Naming Convention & Principles
When registering a .gov.uk domain you should use an appropriate name for the domain that does not cause confusion or mislead about the nature or scope of the website on that domain. Domains also can only consist of standard alphabet characters and cannot contain hyphens and generally should avoid acronyms unless the acronym is commonly known to the public or unavoidable, for example nhs.gov.uk or gchq.gov.uk.
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Procedure: Obtaining A Dot Gov Domain
This outlines the required external and internal steps for obtaining a dot gov domain. The procedure does not apply to subdomains of www.epa.gov. The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency has the authority to oversee and issue new dot gov domains via the .GOV Domain Name Registration Service. CISA requires a letter from the EPAs Chief Information Officer in addition to specific requirements outlined in this procedure.
How To Register A Domain Name For Free
Youve heard the rumor about free domain names. Is it true?
Yes! There are actually ways to get a free domain name for your website.
First, you can get a free domain name for a web hosting provider such as Bluehost.
They offer every new user a 1-year free domain with any of their hosting plans. You can either register a brand new domain name with them or transfer a domain name, registered with another company.
Some other hosting providers who also have a 1-year free domain policy:
- HostGator
- Dreamhost
- InMotion Hosting
Note: The downside of getting a domain name from a hosting provider is more expensive renewals. After a free year, most hosting providers will charge a higher renewal fee, compared to domain registrars.
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What You Need For Get A Massgov Domain Name For Your Government Website
As of 2021, all official Commonwealth government websites must have a Mass.gov domain, like “unemployment.mass.gov” or “paidleave.mass.gov.” A Mass.gov domain name helps establish public trust, ensures a consistent look and feel across government platforms, and adds security to protect constituent and government information. The Executive Office of Technology Services and Security manages and approves all Mass.gov domain names.
Domain name requests are only for new websites. You do not need to request a government domain name to post regular content on Mass.gov.
You can get a Mass.gov domain name by requesting to add a DNS record in ServiceNow. There are many types of DNS records, but you’ll probably want either an A record or a CNAME record:
- A records are for new websites that are being hosted by the Commonwealth
- CNAME records are for new websites that are being hosted externally by a vendor or other partner
The main question that will determine which type of DNS record you need is “Who is hosting this new website?” Both A records and CNAME records require specific information for approval. Here’s what you’ll need for these requests.