Digital services take centre stage in exceptional conditions as .fi domain names reach 500,000 milestone

Finns are avid internet users. The coronavirus pandemic has seen the creation of new online stores, and many services have become internet-based. As a result, the demand for .fi domain names has surged, with a total of 500,000 registered as of 4 November 2020. .Fi domain names serve as addresses for and enable the provision of Finnish digital services on the internet. 

The .fi domain name service was established in 1986 with the addition of the .fi Domain Name System (DNS) to the internet’s root DNS. Following their introduction, the number of .fi domain names increased only moderately until the early years of this century, when deregulation and automation started spurring strong and steady growth. The previous quarter-million milestone was reached in late 2010.

Traficom has a strong focus on information security, offering .fi domain name registrars a geographically distributed name service free of charge

As services become increasingly digital, reliable internet services play an essential role for many businesses. “From the very beginning, Traficom has paid careful attention to the information security of the .fi domain name service. We have, as an example, adopted the Domain Name System Security Extensions (DNSSEC), which protect DNS queries from ending up in the wrong hands”, explains Chief Specialist Juhani Juselius. Traficom has expanded its arsenal of information security measures by offering .fi domain name registrars free-of-charge anycast DNS, which provides the best protection against denial-of-service attacks targeting the domain name system. “Our hope is that a substantial share of .fi domain name registrars help us improve the reliability and fault tolerance of .fi domain names by adopting the anycast service”, Juselius adds. Anycast technology allows a single name server to be placed in multiple locations around the world. 

The .fi domain name service maintained by the Finnish Transport and Communications Agency Traficom has been developed constantly since its inception. Additions include the possibility to use Finnish vowel characters as well as characters used by the Sami languages. Meanwhile, work has been undertaken in partnership with .fi registrars to further cut regulation and improve cost-efficiency. 

The Finnish Transport and Communications Agency Traficom maintains the .fi domain name register. Traficom also maintains the .fi root DNS, which is critically important for the functioning of .fi addresses. It is made up of almost 200 .fi root name servers located around the world.

Companies, organisations and private persons, regardless of their domicile, can all have .fi domain names registered for them. There are over 3,000 domain name registrars providing .fi domain names in Finland. They register domain names on your behalf and assist you with all related services, such as renewals. Usually registrars also provide optional services related to domain names, such as email and web hosting.