Why is it important to combat DNS abuse and what opportunities does digitalisation offer? Dr. Bruce Tonkin from the .au Domain Administration Ltd. talks about this in an interview.
Mr Tonkin, we are pleased to welcome you as an eco member. Would you introduce your company?
.au Domain Administration Limited is a community member-based not-for-profit organisation that administers the .au country code Top Level Domain (ccTLD).
Which digitalisation topics are particularly important to you?
Topics of interest including government regulation of Internet services, information security, and DNS Abuse.
What are the special challenges in your industry at the moment and how are you working on them?
We are working to maintain trust in the .au domain name system, and seek to prevent the use of domain names using phishing, malware, or botnets that cause consumer harm.
How do you expect your membership in the eco Association to support you in this?
We expect to learn from other eco members on how they are tackling information security, data integrity, WHOIS services, and approaches to tackling DNS Abuse.
What opportunities does digitalisation offer us in the future?
The current COVID pandemic has accelerated many of the shifts to digitalisation – particularly for services such as health care and education. There are also opportunities to help provide services to more disadvantaged areas of the community that may not have had easy access to services in the past.
Thank you very much for the interview, Mr Tonkin.
Dr Bruce Tonkin is currently Chief Operating Officer for .au Domain Administration Limited (auDA).  Prior to that he spent 18 years at Melbourne IT in various roles including chief technology officer and chief strategy officer.   In addition he spent over 9 years as a director on the Board of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), in various roles including vice-chair, and chair of risk, governance and compensation committees, and was also a member of the GNSO Council and Security and Stability Advisory Committee for many years. Bruce holds a Bachelor of Electrical and Electronic Engineering (1st class honours) and a Ph.D. in electrical and electronic engineering.
