The Launceston Chamber of Commerce has urged Tasmanian organisations to register their shortened .au domain names ahead of a September 20 deadline, after which third parties could hijack established internet addresses or impersonate businesses.
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Not-for-profit organisation .au Domain Administration Limited, which administers the Australian .au domain, introduced the shortened domain names earlier this year, allowing Australians for the first time to register internet addresses without the .com or .net prefixes widely seen at present.
Entities presently using .com domains, such as examiner.com.au, have until September 20 to register the new shortened versions - such as examiner.au.
After that date, if not registered, the domains open up for possible purchase by third parties.
Chamber executive officer William Cassidy is concerned that cybercriminals could seize control of shortened domain names if action isn't taken.
"While the new second-level domain names are shorter and potentially more memorable, they also offer cybercriminals another avenue to conduct fraudulent cyber activities," he said.
"Opportunistic cybercriminals could register your .au domain name in an attempt to impersonate your business.
"While the Australian Cyber Security Centre still rates this a low-level alert, with fraudulent cyber activity on the rise, we encourage organisations ... to [seriously consider] purchasing the second-level domain name."
He said doing so would "protect your online reputation and prevent opportunistic cyber criminals from using it for illicit purposes."
Tasmanian groups seem slow in taking action so far - institutions such as examiner.au, sportieshotel.com.au, and visitnortherntasmania.com.au are all yet to be registered, as is themercury.com.au.
MyState Bank, Tasmania's largest financial institution, is also yet to register for the shortened domain.
"Anything that makes it easier for our current and future customers to find us online is always welcome ... and we'll certainly be looking into this latest 'au' update," bank technology, operations and product general manager Paul Moss said.
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