The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) has named its new chief security, stability and resiliency officer.
John Crain has been given the role as the organization prepares to rollout the first batch of generic top-level domains (gTLDs).
The position has been newly created by ICANN and Mr. Crain will assume the responsibilities of Jeff Moss, who is stepping down from his position as chief security officer at the end of the year.
Mr. Moss, who was appointed to his current role in April 2011, said he intends to stay an active part of the ICANN community. He worked with Mr. Crain recently as ICANN devised various methods to study and address and mitigate the ongoing name collision issue.
“We are taking a slow and careful approach to this issue and since the roll-out of new gTLDs will be very gradual, I’m confident that name collisions will not pose any major issues that can’t be responded to responsibly.”
He will lead a team focused entirely on the security, stability and resiliency (SSR) of the internet’s unique identifier systems. The unit will work closely with the ICANN community to enhance security and increase the understanding of its importance within the organization.
Security is paramount to ICANN in the coming months as it moves to revolutionize the way the internet works, offering companies increased brand protection with gTLDs.
Mr. Crain has been at ICANN for 13 years and has previously served as its senior director of security, stability and resiliency.
In his new role he will report to Akram Atallah, president of the Generic Domains Division, who said he is well respected across the community and will be able to use his “extensive expertise” in SSR to push ICANN forwards in terms of security.
Meanwhile, ICANN also announced the formation of a new Security, Stability and Resiliency Executive Committee, which will be made up of members of the organization’s executive team and led by chief executive officer Fadi Chehade. It has been set up to keep on top of emerging SSR issues, track potential risks and develop mitigation strategies.