Dear All, An action item from the 22 December 2009 ALAC meeting was for staff to provide you with information on the HSTLD advisory group. Dave Piscitello, Senior Security Technologist at ICANN, has provided the following information on this advisory group: The HSTLD advisory group is reviewing the concept paper published in conjunction with DAGv3. The group will assist ICANN staff (primarily security team and services) in (1) reviewing the public comments, (2) studying the merits of the verification program, (3) assess the risks the HSTLD should address/mitigate, and ultimately, (4) revise the concept paper and provide finer details for the program elements. Andy Welch is the lead consultant from KPMG, which has been hired by the ICANN CISA to assist staff in new TLD security initiatives. KPMG participated in the composition of the original concept paper, which was developed based on the malicious conduct explanatory memorandum and requirements submitted to ICANN staff from financial, law enforcement, security, and anti-phishing communities. The concept paper noted above is available at: http://www.icann.org/en/topics/new-gtlds/high-security-zone-verification-04o... A briefing paper related to this group is available at: http://www.icann.org/en/topics/new-gtlds/briefing-hstld-24nov09-en.pdf The HSTLD advisory group webpage is available at: http://www.icann.org/en/topics/new-gtlds/hstld-program-en.htm Please let us know if you would like any additional information on this advisory group. Regards, Heidi Ullrich, Matthias Langenegger, Gisella Gruber-White, Marilyn Vernon, Kristina Nordström ICANN At-Large Staff email: staff[at]atlarge.icann.org website: www.atlarge.icann.org<http://www.atlarge.icann.org>