Doha                                                                                                                                                                                                      03 Oct 2018

The Communications Regulatory Authority (CRA) has observed misleading information circulating in social media platforms pertaining to an alleged “two-day Internet outage across the world”. CRA would like to clarify that on October 11, 2018, the Internet Corporation of Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) will change the cryptographic key that helps protect the Domain Name System (DNS) - the Internet's address book. This is an important move to ensure a secure, stable and resilient DNS.

To further clarify, some Internet users might be affected if their network operators or Internet Service Providers (ISPs) have not prepared for this change. However, this impact can be avoided by enabling the appropriate system security extensions.

Qatari domains such as .qa domains. .قطر, .gov.qa, .org.qa, .com.qa etc., will not be affected as the latest security measures, and international standards have been implemented by CRA.

CRA would like to recommend to domains operators who own or manage domains not under the Qatari Domains to check with their Domains Registry Operator or contact CRA for more information via support@domains.qa