There’s limited time left to secure priority access to the new .au domain names and Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman, Bruce Billson, is urging small business to act now to protect your internet identity.

If you own a com.au, .net.au or similar domain name, you would likely have received an email detailing priority access to the new .au domains being introduced. As a current Australian domain name holder, you alone can register the shortened .au domain before 20 September, when access is granted to the general public.

Bruce Billson is imploring small businesses to take urgent action to snap up the .au domains in order to safeguard your brand and identity on the internet. If you don’t register the domain by 20 September, you  risk impersonators, web-name ‘campers’ or cyber criminals take up the shortened domain name that’s just like yours.

He says that with all the challenges small business owners are facing now, “the last thing anyone needs is someone ripping off their domain name”.

Anyone could own your .au

The Ombudsman has particular concerns about plans to allow an “open slather” sale of business internet names under the new .au domain.

“I implore all small business owners to take a few minutes to work out if they want the shortened .au domain or will be unhappy for someone else to have it,” he says. “If you want it, small business owners, I urge you to take a few minutes and few dollars to register it or potentially face someone else grabbing it and using it to digitally ambush your business, to demand big dollars later to surrender it to you, or misuse it to masquerade as you or to help them engage in cyber-crime.”

Billson is worried that the message isn’t getting out to everyone, leaving many small business owners at risk.

What’s the new .au address all about?

The auDA introduced the new system on 24 March allowing anyone with a connection to Australia, such as businesses, associations and individuals, to register a new category of domain name. Instead of ending with .com.au, .net.au, asn.au, edu.au, etc people could register the shorter .au name. For example, kochiesbusinessbuilders.com.au would be kochiesbusinessbuilders.au

The new .au names will grow the Australian internet space and auDA says they will:

• Deliver a wider choice of available names in the Australian domain
• Allow users to register shorter, more memorable online names
• Provide names that are easier to type and display on mobile devices.

Anyone with a local connection to Australia (including businesses, associations and individuals) is eligible to register a .au direct name through an auDA accredited registrar. New names (unregistered with any namespace before) can be registered now. Exact matches with existing namespaces are only able to be registered by the existing registrant until 20 September. After this date, anyone can register the .au equivalent.

“The consequences of not registering your existing business name by this deadline could be catastrophic for a business if a rival or someone else took their online name,” says Billson. “Domain names are very much the identity of a business and critical to their success. Small businesses cannot afford to have their identity sold to someone else.”

Billson likens the new .au domain to cutting a second set of keys to your front door and selling them to a rival who tries to sell them back to you at a higher price. Or selling those keys to a criminal who uses them to easily rip off your customers.

Potential for cybercrime

The Ombudsman is not the only one concerned about how the fast rollout of the new shortened domain names could leave Australian businesses exposed. The Australian Cyber Security Centre  issued an alert that the new domain name category could allow cybercriminals to facilitate fraudulent activity like business email compromise which can lead to invoice fraud. The ACSC website warns: “Opportunistic cybercriminals could register your .au domain name in an attempt to impersonate your business.”

The short timeframe and lack of notice to register the new address is of particular concern to Billson. He called on auDA to re-think its position and extend the exclusive period for businesses to register their corresponding .au name by 12 months.

“The deadline needs to be significantly extended,” he says. “We are not unhappy about the introduction of the .au domain but these crucial internet addresses should be available to the right people first and they should properly be notified about the change and given reasonable time to act.

What you need to do

Register your .au domain equivalent before 20 September 2022. After this time, the .au domain will be available for registration by the general public.

Check in with your current domain registrar, or any accredited registrar.

Want more? Get our newsletter delivered straight to your inbox! Follow Kochie’s Business Builders on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn.

Now read this:

https://www.kochiesbusinessbuilders.com.au/big-news-for-aussie-businesses-new-au-domain-name-extensions-launching-this-year/