In a move to improve the security and stability of the global domain name (DNC) system, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) has proposed the creation of a new top-level domain (TLD) for use internal.
The appropriately named .internal TLD has been proposed as a replacement for 1.9.168.xx IPv4 addresses by providing a designated space for private purposes within enterprises and for device vendors.
The decision comes after the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) reviewed 35 different candidate strings, narrowing them down to .internal and .private before finally settling on the aforementioned.
New .internal TLD proposed to replace 192.168.xx
Neither is perfect, according to a statement from ICANN. The main concerns are that .internal could be confused with .int, a TLD reserved for intergovernmental treaty organizations, and that .private suggests a level of privacy. Neither was considered serious enough for the organization to dismiss the suggestions, but the connotation of greater privacy led it to opt for .internal.
Although ICANN's board has not yet approved the creation of .internal, the organization is asking the community for feedback.
ICANN also emphasized that operators opting for private namespaces, such as .internal, should consider the costs involved. The proposal recommends using subdomains of publicly registered domain names, which would eliminate those costs.
An ICANN Security and Stability Advisory Committee (SSAC) notice from September 2020, when this project began to gain traction, reveals that beyond network operators and routers, companies that provide IoT devices, gateway networks Captives and other software providers may also want to benefit from the proposed TLD.
The same advisory confirms that different instances of the .internal domain will have different meanings in separate contexts or networks, just as we have become accustomed to with 192.168.xx.
As the process unfolds, the Internet landscape continues to evolve and the adoption of controlled TLDs could help provide more controlled spaces for internal communication, services and resources.
