The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), a global organization that coordinates the Domain Name System (DNS) on Tuesday launched Africa’s first Managed Root Server (IMRS) cluster that aims to boost internet access and security in the continent.
Goran Marby, ICANN President and CEO told journalists that the IMRS, based in Nairobi, Kenya’s capital, will be the fifth globally as North America hosts two, while Europe and Asia host one each.
“The installation of this new IMRS cluster will stimulate internet access as well as reduce the impact of potential cyber-attacks across Africa,” Marby said in Nairobi.
Marby observed that one of the most common types of cyber attacks is the distributed denial-of-service attacks that work by overwhelming servers with a flood of queries or internet traffic.
He revealed that installing the IMRS cluster in Africa ensures that internet queries can be answered within the region, which limits its dependence on networks and servers in other parts of the world.
Eliud Owalo, Kenya’s Cabinet Secretary in the Ministry for Information, Communications and the Digital Economy said that the deployment of the IMRS is an important gateway for internet access across Africa. Enditem
