Businessweek

VeriSign, Inc. provides Internet infrastructure services. The company provides network confidence and availability for Internet services, such as domain name registry services and infrastructure assurance services. The company’s service capabilities enable real-time name resolution for top level domains (TLDs), enable domain name registration through registrars, and provide security intelligence and cloud-based network availability services to enterprise customers. The company’s services consists of Registry Services and Network Intelligence and Availability (NIA) Services. The company has operations inside as well as outside the United States (U.S.). Naming Services Registry Services Registry Services operates the authoritative directory of all .com, .net, .cc, .tv, and .name domain names and the back-end systems for all .gov, .jobs and .edu domain names. Registry Services allows individuals and organizations to establish their online identities, while providing the always-on access they need to communicate and transact with large-scale online audiences. The company is a registry of domain names within the .com, .net and .name generic top-level domains (gTLDs) under agreements with Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) and also, with respect to the .com agreement, the U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC). As a registry, the company maintains the master directory of all second-level domain names in these TLDs. The company’s global constellation of domain name servers provides Internet Protocol (IP) address information in response to queries, enabling the use of browsers, email systems, and other systems on the Internet. In addition, the company owns and maintain the shared registration system that allows all registrars to enter new second-level domain names into the master directory and to submit modifications, transfers, re-registrations and deletions for existing second-level domain names (Shared Registration System). Separate from its agreements with ICANN, the company has agreements to be the exclusive registry for the .tv and .cc country code top-level domains (ccTLDs) and to operate the back-end registry systems for the .gov, .jobs and .edu gTLDs. These TLDs are also supported by its global constellation of domain name servers and Shared Registration System. With its existing gTLDs and ccTLDs, the company also provides internationalized domain name (IDN) services that enable Internet users to access Websites in characters representing their local language. IDNs may be registered in approximately 350 different native languages and scripts. NIA Services NIA Services provides infrastructure assurance to organizations and comprises Verisign iDefense Security Intelligence Services (iDefense), Managed Domain Name System (Managed DNS) and Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) Protection Services. iDefense provides 24 hours a day, every day of the year, access to cyber intelligence related to vulnerabilities, malicious code, and global threats. The company’s teams enable companies to improve vulnerability management, incident response, fraud mitigation, and proactive mitigation of the particular threats targeting their industry or global operations. Its customers include financial institutions, large corporations, and governmental and quasi-governmental organizations. Managed DNS is a hosting service that delivers DNS resolution, improving the availability of Web-based systems. It provides DNS availability through a securely managed, cloud-based DNS infrastructure. Managed DNS service provides full support for DNS Security Extensions (DNSSEC) compliance features and Geo Location traffic routing capabilities. DNSSEC is designed to protect the DNS infrastructure from man-in-the-middle attacks that corrupt, or poison, DNS data. Geo Location allows Web site owners to customize responses for end-users based on their physical location or IP address, giving them the ability to deliver location-specific content. Customers include financial institutions, e-Commerce, and Software-as-a-service providers. DDoS Protection Services supports online business continuity by providing monitoring and mitigation services against DDoS attacks. Customers include financial institutions and e-commerce providers. Research and Development During 2012, the company’s research and development expenses were $61.7 million. Intellectual Property The company has obtained trademark registrations for the VERISIGN mark in the U.S. and other countries, and has filed new trademark applications for the new VERISIGN logo covering the same countries. Competition Registry Services: The company’s competitors include Neustar, Inc.; Afilias Limited; ARI Registry Services; and Nominet UK, Inc. It also faces competition from search engine operators such as Google Inc.; Microsoft Corporation; Yahoo!