Security expert appointed vice president of ICANN

Jeff Moss

ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) has appointed an IT security expert and veteran hacker as its vice president: Jeff Moss is expected to be handling infrastructure security in the global computer network. “I can think of no one with a greater understanding of the security threats facing Internet users and how best to defend against them than Jeff Moss,” said Rod Beckstrom, ICANN’s President and Chief Executive Officer. ICANN regulates the Domain Name System (DNS), for example, deciding on the approval of new top level domains.

Moss is the founder of the DEFCON hacker conference and of the Black Hat security conference. He currently also serves as a member of the US Department of Homeland Security Advisory Council. In the press release, Moss said that online threats to the DNS could potentially affect two billion internet users worldwide. “I’m looking forward to bringing my skill sets to ICANN,” said Moss.

(djwm)