Central registry for .de domains: domain register, DNS infrastructure, escrow and security services

DENIC eG

Frankfurt am Main · DarmstadtNew on Amplifa

1996Founded

around 300 membersCooperative members

over 17 millionRegistered .de domains

24 server locations on 6 continentsAnycast nameserver network

2In-house highly secure data centers

About DENIC eG

DENIC eG, headquartered in Frankfurt am Main, is the central registry for all .de domains and manages over 17 million registered domains. Founded in 1996 as a registered cooperative by 37 German internet service providers, it today unites around 300 members. Its core tasks include maintaining the central domain register, operating a worldwide nameserver network with anycast sites on six continents, the whois service, DNSSEC, ENUM domains for the German numbering space, and two highly secure data centers providing redundancy for billions of daily queries. Through its wholly owned subsidiary DENIC Services GmbH & Co. KG in Darmstadt, the company offers Data Escrow as an exclusive ICANN Data Escrow Agent, Digital Escrow, and anycast name service for TLD registries. All systems are monitored 24/7 and operate according to the certification standards ISO/IEC 27001:2022 and ISO 22301:2020. The cooperative is not-for-profit and represents the interests of the German internet community in bodies such as ICANN, CENTR, IETF and RIPE.

Site: Frankfurt am Main
Processes: Management of the .de domain register, ENUM domains, whois service, TRANSIT service, DENICdirect, DISPUTE proceedings, .de Registry Lock, DNSSEC
Materials: DNS Security Extensions, Anycast Routing, ENUM (Telephone Number Mapping), DENIC's own cloud platform, Data and Digital Escrow
Certificates: ISO/IEC 27001:2022, ISO 22301:2020
Founded: 1996
Industries: Internet infrastructure / Domain registration, IT security, Telecommunications (ENUM)

01
Registration of .de domains via members (providers)
02
Management of the central domain register (real-time registration system on
03
Operation of the DNS infrastructure including DNSSEC and anycast
04
24/7 monitoring and security management
05
Additional services: whois, TRANSIT, DISPUTE, Registry Lock
06
Escrow and anycast services via DENIC Services GmbH & Co. KG

Technologies and Processes

DNSSEC

DNS Security Extensions

Cryptographic signing of DNS responses to protect against manipulation such as DNS spoofing and cache poisoning.

Anycast

Anycast Routing

Distributed server architecture for short response times, high fail-safety and protection against DDoS overload.

ENUM

ENUM (Telephone Number Mapping)

Management of ENUM domains for the German numbering space (+49) to link telephone numbers with internet services.

Cloud

DENIC's own cloud platform

Since 2022, a sovereign, in-house operated foundation for the .de real-time registration system and future services.

Escrow

Data and Digital Escrow

Escrow administration of domain registration data as well as software, documents and digital assets via DENIC Services.

Locations

Frankfurt am Main

Head office and business office, operation of the domain register and the DNS infrastructure

Materials: Domain register, DNS, whois, DNSSEC, ENUM

Two independent highly secure data centers
Real-time registration system (cloud-native stack)
DENIC's own cloud platform
24/7 monitoring

Darmstadt

Location of the subsidiary DENIC Services GmbH & Co. KG: Data Escrow, Digital Escrow, anycast for TLD registries,

Materials: Data Escrow, Digital Escrow, Anycast DNS

Data centers in Germany and Switzerland (GDPR-compliant)

Services and Offerings

**Data Escrow – Escrow custody of domain registration data**Escrow · Domain Registration

**Digital Escrow – Safeguarding digital assets**Escrow · IT Security

**Anycast DNS for TLD registries**DNS Infrastructure · Internet

**TRANSIT service – protection against domain loss**Domain Service · Internet

Inside the production

Industries

Internet infrastructure / Domain registrationIT securityTelecommunications (ENUM)

Additional services

Management of the .de domain registerENUM domainswhois serviceTRANSIT serviceDENICdirectDISPUTE proceedings.de Registry LockDNSSECIDN domainsAnycast for TLD registriesData Escrow (via DENIC Services GmbH & Co. KG)Digital EscrowHolder data verification (NIS-2)Service tools (NAST, IDN conversion)

Reference customers

Over 2,600 escrow customers worldwide (DENIC Services)ICES – more than 50% of all domains worldwide secured by means of Data Escrow (statement on website)

Quality and Information Security

DENIC operates according to the certified management systems ISO/IEC 27001:2022 (information security) and ISO 22301:2020 (business continuity). All systems are monitored 24/7 to guarantee continuous availability despite billions of daily queries.

Evidence	Frankfurt am Main	Darmstadt
ISO/IEC 27001:2022
ISO 22301:2020

History

1986
Entry of the .de country code in the IANA database on 5 November; initially administered by CSNET in the USA
1988
Transfer of .de administration to the Computer Science Operations Group (IRB) at the University of Dortmund; the name DENIC is born
1993
Formation of the interest group IV-DENIC by DFN, EUNET and Xlink; University of Karlsruhe wins the tender and administers .de from January 1994
1996
Founding of DENIC eG in December by 37 German internet service providers
1997
Establishment of the DENIC business office in Frankfurt am Main in July
2006
Registration of ENUM domains for the German numbering space (+49) by DENIC
2021
17 millionth .de domain registered (13 July); 25 years of DENIC eG; rollout of the first virtual nameserver location in Sydney
2022
Construction of DENIC's own cloud platform
2023
Migration of the .de real-time registration system to a cloud-native stack; founding of the TLD ISAC; host of ICANN78 in Hamburg with over 2,500 participants
2024
Founding of IGF-D e.V. to strengthen the multistakeholder dialogue on internet governance in Germany
2025
Introduction of the open-source tool OpenPAQ for validating address data (July)
2026
30 years of DENIC eG; new digital presence (December 2025)