Companies are now able to register .trust domains for those wanting to provide their customers with a safer and more trustworthy place online.

The NCC Group plc, the international, independent provider of Escrow, Assurance and Domain Services, announced that companies were able to submit requests to become part of the .trust community on 16 December 2014.

A 90-day “Name Collision” has now begun and a “Sunrise Period” will shortly commence for trademarked brands.

“After a number of months of working closely with ICANN, we are delighted that companies will be able to reserve their .trust domains with us,” said Rob Cotton, NCC Group CEO.

“This is a key milestone in the rollout of .trust and brings us closer to making the Internet more trustworthy.

“A combination of the Internet’s endemic security issues and the introduction of thousands of new TLDs over the next few years, means that trademark and brand owners need to take action to protect their online presence and interaction with their customers.”

.trust is a unique gTLD that aims to provide a safer and more secure Internet for both businesses and consumers.  This extension will help protect an organisation’s brand, reputation and sensitive customer information by enforcing the highest level of security and reliability.

The gTLD is aimed at industries such as Financial Services, health care, start-up enterprises, non-profits and e-commerce companies.

For consumers, a .trust web address will provide a clear indication that a site is what it claims to be and is a safe place to do business, interact and share information.

In October the Group published its .trust Technical Policy, which sets the rules and governance to measure security compliance on .trust domains.

All applicants for a .trust domain will have to verify their identity and ownership of the trademark or brand used for the domain name. They will also have to ensure their organisation is secure by complying with .trust’s strict and specific code of security policies and undergo regular security monitoring to assure their infrastructure remains safe.

For more information about .trust and how to register a trademark in Sunrise please visit: www.nic.trust