Shorter, simpler, and easy to remember.
Starting from 24th March, anyone with a local connection to Australia including businesses, associations, and individuals will be able to register a new category of domain name.
These shorter simpler domain names will end in .au rather than .com.au, .net.au, .org.au, .gov.au or .edu.au.
All Australian businesses will have until the 20th of September to reserve their .au equivalent domain name, then it becomes available to the general public.
While the new category of a domain name allows users to register shorter, more memorable online names, it also creates an avenue for cybercriminals to conduct fraudulent cyber activities under your brand. They will be able to mimic Australian brands, including your own business.
This tactic (phishing) aims to confuse customers into thinking that they have received a legitimate email or accessed a legitimate website, only to end up having sensitive details stolen and used against the business.
Opportunistic cybercriminals could register your .au domain name in an attempt to impersonate your business. For example, if you are currently registered as companyname.com.au, a cybercriminal could register ‘companyname.au’ or ‘companynamecom.au’ and use these domains to conduct fraudulent cyber activities.
Get in now to connect with a registry for your .au – Domain Names, Websites, Hosting & Online Marketing Tools – Go to your usual registry that has your other domain names and add this to each of your important entities.