30th March Update – Support for Ukrainian registrants
As we watch events unfold, our thoughts are with the Ukrainian people who continue to face the horrors of an invasion that has turned their lives upside down.
To help those affected, we have donated £200k to the DEC Ukraine humanitarian appeal now underway – specifically to the British Red Cross who are one of a great number of charities already providing vital support.
We have allocated a further £50k to match any donations our members or staff wish to make to the appeal this month.
On a smaller scale, we have also donated powerbanks in the hope that helps some of those displaced stay connected to family and friends.
Unfortunately, times of great upheaval also present opportunities for fraud. With that in mind, we are checking new registrations via domain watch to tackle phishing scams related to the Ukrainian aid effort.
We are not accepting registrations from registrars in Russia – we are suspending the relevant tags.
However, to avoid compromising outlets for expression outside the control of the regime, the very small number of domains with Russian address details will continue to operate as normal.
The security of our systems remains a priority, and the response to the heightened threat to our infrastructure includes increased monitoring for signs of compromise and expedited action on any vulnerabilities throughout the supply chain.
As regards investments, at the start of the conflict there were investments of c£100k in Russian companies held embedded in funds within our portfolio. Working with our external advisors, we have reduced that amount to circa £1k with an ambition to get to zero.
We continue to monitor the situation and will keep members informed.
Members interested in matched funding available for British Red Cross donations can find more information available on the Member Hub.
30th March Update – Support for Ukrainian registrants
A Nominet Ukrainian Registrant Support Fund (URSF) has been set up to support registrars and their registrants based in Ukraine. Registrars can apply for funds to support their registrants who may not be in a position to renew. Nominet will waive the fee on one-year renewals for domains that have entered expiry and/or are due to expire by the 31st of July 2022.