On November 5, 2015, CNNIC was approved as an ICANN-accredited Third-Party Provider of Registrar Data Escrow (RDE TPP) services, making it eligible to provide free registrar data escrow services for domain name registrars worldwide. This will particularly benefit hundreds of domestic registrars. 

In recent years, network security has become a growing concern at home and abroad. With regard to basic resources, ICANN and the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology of China required domain name registrars to store registration data on the platforms of qualified escrow agents, so that in the case of any attack on master servers or any equipment failure, registrars can quickly recover their data via third-party platforms. It ensures the security of users’ registration information. 

RDE TPP is an ICANN mandated accreditation mechanism that has gained international recognition. In order to be approved as an RDE TPP, the entity applicant must reach a very high level in the aspects of hardware, operation capability, research strength and emergency response.　“Being approved as an RDE TPP reflects CNNIC’s technology strength and sense of social responsibility which constitute the basis for ICANN and user trust,” says Chen Yuanmin, CNNIC senior engineer and “New gTLD” project chief, who has played a key role in CNNIC applying for RDE TPP qualification. 

Relying on its rich experience and technology strength, CNNIC, as the national domain name operation and management agency, has established a world-leading domain name service platform that supports the key technologies for the next-generation Internet, including IPv6 and domain name system security extensions (DNSSEC), and is capable of offsite disaster recovery and global delivery of services. So far it has provided professional services for more than 20 top-level domains including “.cn”, “.中国”, “.公司”, and “.网络”. The platform has established an information security management system in conformity with ISO27001, capable of responding to large-scale network attacks and taking over the operation of any global top-level domain. 

In 2014, the National Engineering Lab for Naming and Addressing established by CNNIC became the only domain-related national laboratory approved by the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC). CNNIC is currently a world leader in Internet-related academic & technological research and in the development of Internet-related standards, boasting powerful strength in both software and hardware development in domain name registration, resolution and security. 

High-quality service integrated with strong technical support　

As a RDE TPP, CNNIC is now qualified to provide third-party data hosting services for registrars on a global scale, which, considering the regional characteristics of such services, will mostly benefit registrars in Chinese-speaking regions. To enjoy the free data escrow services, they only need to fill out a simple application form for joining “China Domain Name Security Alliance”. 

According to the 36th Statistical Report on Internet Development in China CNNIC released on July 23 this year, the total number of domain names in China had reached 22.31 million by June 2015, and domain name registration data backup requires long-term efforts. Compared with other escrow agents, CNNIC has advantages not only in technology strength but also in service level. It established a user service center as early as in 2006, which operated 24 hours a day, with a professional operation and maintenance team to monitor and solve problems in a timely manner.　

After being informed of the approval for RDE TPP on November 5, CNNIC quickly developed a data hosting service process from the signing of service agreement to technical support, and opened a dedicated service hotline to solve technical and other problems for registrars in real time, in a move to prompt registrars to use third-party data backup on CNNIC’s security platform and work together to maintain China’s domain data security. 

Data security of basic Internet resources is an essential part of the national network security. As the only authority in China for managing fundamental Internet resources, CNNIC is well poised to provide users and the nation with better support for network information security.