Why should governments move their web presence to .gov domains by Benjamin Edelen, Boulder County
Let's consider a hypothetical organization Anytown, Colorado, with web and email presence at anytownco.org:
- Multiple types of confirmation are used to make sure that .gov domains are ONLY available to governments.
- When residents see email from, and links to, anytownco.org vs anytownco.gov, they can be much more confident in the authenticity of the .gov
- .gov domains are hard to convincingly impersonate: anytownco.org will constantly be spoofed by folks setting up domains like any.townco.org. Impersonators cannot acquire a .gov, so their fake emails and websites will not look as similar, and will be easier to detect.
- All web browsers know to only connect to .gov websites with encryption. This helps protect all interactions with government services by default.
- Moving all governments to a .gov web and email presence has been identified as a nationwide security objective. Agencies are advised to consider that in the future, grant funding, cyber insurance applications, and required security assessments may include governments moving to .gov as a requirement.
Check out how to apply for a .gov domain.
**You can work with SIPA to get a website on the colorado.gov platform without having to go through that application process; however, if you would like to migrate your email addresses to a .gov, which we also recommend, go ahead and apply for a .gov domain and then contact us to obtain email licenses with Google or Microsoft. Email sipa@cosipa.gov or call 720-409-5634.
