At DNS Belgium, we are dedicated to ensuring the availability of the .be zone in Belgium, regardless of cyberattacks or other incidents. A specific setup with local nameservers at the largest internet operators (or 'ISPs') in our country is a part of this. This ensures that .be domain names are always accessible.
Robust infrastructure for guaranteed availability
Within the networks of Telenet, VOO, Proximus and Orange, DNS Belgium has placed nameservers that are exclusively available to these ISPs. These nameservers are geographically distributed copies of each other and provide identical information: everything needed to view or use a .be, .vlaanderen, or .brussels website or email address. This infrastructure ensures that there is always at least one well-functioning and fast nameserver available for these internet operators and their customers.
Our local DNS anycast solution is a great example of how we enhance the cyber resilience of our digital society.
Protection against cyberattacks
This setup with additional nameservers provides protection against cyberattacks, such as a DDoS attack. If internet traffic in Belgium is disrupted by a cyberattack, a backup plan automatically comes into effect: the internet traffic of customers at Telenet, VOO, Proximus and Orange is routed through the locally installed server at their internet operator, without them noticing any difference. Only locally generated traffic reaches the local server, enabling quicker anticipation of an incident on a local network.
This collaboration perfectly aligns with NIS2 by strengthening the availability, DDoS resistance, and sovereignty of critical network services.
Reliability and security for the .be zone
With this collaboration, we cover about 90% of the market. Customers of the 4 largest ISPs can count on a more reliable and secure Belgian internet. For us, this is an essential step towards greater resilience in terms of cybersecurity.
With this article, we support the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.