Verisign Press Release:

INTERNET GROWS TO MORE THAN 246 MILLION DOMAIN NAMES IN THE THIRD QUARTER OF 2012

RESTON, VA--(Marketwire - Dec 20, 2012) -  More than five million domain names were added to the Internet in the third quarter of 2012, bringing the total number of registered domain names as of Sept. 30, 2012, to more than 246 million worldwide across all Top-Level Domains, according to the latest Domain Name Industry Brief, published by VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ: VRSN), the trusted provider of Internet infrastructure services for the networked world.

The increase of 5.7 million domain names globally equates to a growth rate of 2.4 percent over the second quarter of 2012, and marks the seventh straight quarter with greater than 2 percent growth. Worldwide registrations have grown by 26.4 million, or 12 percent, since the third quarter of 2011.

The .com and .net Top-Level Domains (TLDs) experienced aggregate growth in the third quarter of 2012, reaching a combined total of approximately 119.9 million domain names in the adjusted zone for .com and .net. This represents a 1 percent increase in the base over the second quarter of 2012 and a 7.1 percent increase over the third quarter of 2011. As of Sept. 30, 2012, the base of registered names in .com equaled 105 million names, while .net equaled 14.9 million names.

New .com and .net registrations totaled 7.8 million during the third quarter of 2012. This is a 1.1 percent year-over-year decrease in new registrations. The .com/.net renewal rate for the third quarter of 2012 was 72.5 percent, slightly down from 72.9 percent for the second quarter of 2012.

Verisign's average daily Domain Name System (DNS) query load during the third quarter of 2012 was 67 billion with a peak of 102 billion. Compared to the previous quarter, the daily average decreased 1.3 percent and the peak increased 14.1 percent.

The latest issue of the Domain Name Industry Brief also offers advice for blocking distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks before they reach an enterprise's network or application. "Combating DDoS Attacks in the Cloud" highlights key strategies for companies to consider when creating an informed DDoS mitigation plan to help better protect their assets.

Verisign publishes the Domain Name Industry Brief to provide Internet users throughout the world with statistical and analytical research and data on the domain name industry. Copies of the 2012 third quarter Domain Name Industry Brief, as well as previous reports, can be obtained at www.VerisignInc.com/DNIB.

About Verisign VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ: VRSN) is the trusted provider of Internet infrastructure services for the networked world. Billions of times each day, Verisign helps companies and consumers all over the world connect between the dots. Additional news and information about the company is available at www.VerisignInc.com.