Paul Kane, CEO of CommunityDNS, based at the University of Bath’s SETsquared Innovation Centre, has been selected to safeguard one of seven keys to restart the World Wide Web in the event of a catastrophic event, such as a terrorist attack.

From this month, the internet will become more secure through a new international agreement and process which verifies web sites and helps protect email accounts from fraud, using high tech cryptographic keys.

DNSSEC (domain name system security) is a new system that ensures people wishing to access their bank account or shop online can be confident that they have reached the genuine website, rather than a look-alike pirate site.

It is estimated that up to eight per cent of internet traffic is fraudulent, and this agreement is a major advance in increasing internet security.

Bath entrepreneur Paul Kane has been selected as key holder for Western Europe, responsible for one of seven keys held by individuals worldwide who have been chosen as trusted community representatives.

In the event of a security breach, Paul may be required to travel to a secure location in the US where he will meet five other key holders, to recover the master signing key.

Paul Kane commented: “I’m honoured and excited to be recognised for past achievements and current contributions to global internet security as we add additional tools to allow the end user to feel more confident in their use of the internet.

“We are very pleased to be part of stimulating innovation in the Bath area and see the University of Bath becoming a global centre of excellence for enabling internet technologies.”

CommunityDNS, launched in 2007, provides a globally diverse name resolution service to large corporations and national domain name registries from over 40 countries and handles up to 18 billion queries per day.

As part of a larger group with offices in Japan and USA, the UK based CommunityDNS is located at the Bath Innovation Centre (part of SETsquared, the enterprise partnership of the universities of Bath, Bristol, Southampton and Surrey).

Paul Kane and his team were brought in as internet specialists to work in partnership with the University and the 50 or so high tech, high growth incubator businesses on the site.

Simon Bond, Director of the University of Bath's SETsquared Innovation Centre, said: “We’re delighted to provide an environment where leading British entrepreneurs like Paul Kane can develop globally significant businesses.

“It’s an honour for Bath to be one of the locations for the ‘keys to the internet’ and it is an acknowledgement of the strength of our region and the individuals who live here in global internet security.”

Ed Vaizey, MP (Minister responsible for Communications, Culture and Creative Industries) commented on this latest achievement: "It is wonderful to see UK companies innovating and leading the world in the field of internet security. It is vital that we consistently strive for excellence when enhancing user confidence in the online environment."

A short video explaining the project is on the CDNS Community website.