While there may be a grain of truth there, I suggest that this kind of thinking presents us with something of a false dichotomy.

As the industry-wide paradigm shift to cloud computing and software-as-a-service gradually continues to make the transition from buzz to reality, security and availability continue to emerge as the main barriers to customer adoption. A recent ISACA survey of over 1,800 US IT professionals found that only 17 percent believe the benefits of cloud computing outweigh the risks. Only one in 10 respondents said they would consider using software-as-a-service (SaaS) for mission-critical applications.

If the rise of phishing has taught us anything, it's that on the Internet, if a digital asset has value, there's somebody out there who wants to steal it. Whether it's a bank account password, a credit card number, a PayPal login, or even a magic sword in an online game, there's a fraudster somewhere trying to misappropriate it for his or her own nefarious purposes.

Domain names have always been a target for such criminals. Companies and individuals doing business online have few assets more valuable than their domain name. It may cost $10 or less to register one, but the domain name is the glue that connects a company to its customers; revenue and brand equity depend upon its security.

Afilias' James Galvin will be moderating a panel entitled: e-Crimes and Malicious Use in the DNS: Implications and Observations at the IGF USA conference to be held at the Georgetown Law Center.

This session covers some of very real time examples of the fight against DNS‐related abuse such as phishing, malware and fraudulent uses of domain names. The panel will also comment on the scope and growth expected in various kinds of fraud and abuse as the domain name space continues to grow exponentially.

DDoS protection vendor gets better value with Afilias as its new managed DNS provider

AUSTIN, Texas (HOSTINGCON) - 19 July 2010 -Afilias, a leading provider of Internet infrastructure services, announced that Black Lotus Communications has selected Afilias' FlexDNS^SM Platform to provide DNS infrastructure in support of its distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) protection solutions. Black Lotus needed to replace its previous DNS provider in order to improve its resiliency to DDoS attacks and achieve better economy in its DNS management. 

Come visit Afilias at booth #535 to learn about our new FlexDNS Platform and find a flexible solution that works for your business. While you're there don't forget to enter to win an Eee PC netbook!

The dotMOBI team will also be at the booth demo-ing their new goMOBI mobile content solution!  Stop by to learn about the reseller options for this great new product offering!

Recent years have brought a plague of attacks targeting your ability to do business online.  Whether in the form of distributed denial of service attack (DDoS), spam, phishing, or Facebook and Twitter scams.  Likely the most disturbing issue for e-commerce organizations has been the growing prevalence of DDoS attacks waged to interrupt their business, or worse, to extort money. 2010 has inaugurated a new type of attack, wearing an old disguise – hijacking your managed DNS by compromising your e-mail account.

Ram Mohan discuses in a CircleID.com blog post how hackers can gain control of a Web site and the implications for DNSSEC.