New domain to combat phishing?

ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) are being lobbied to introduce a new domain name extension (such as .safe) in an attempt to combat phishing. The likes of banks and online payment services would use the service.

Leading security experts F-Secure are at the head of the charge, with Mikko Hyppönen (chief research officer) saying:

"While a .safe domain name won’t prevent phishing attacks, it will help banks and security providers to keep their customers safe. Using a secure domain name such as .safe will give customers the reassurance they need when banking online.

It’s true this will mean banks have to pay a premium to be able to use the domain name, but it will reduce the number of successful phishing sites that have been tricking many customers out of their hard earned cash."

ICANN are wrapping up their triennial meeting - more details on key things being discussed can be found at El Reg.