Fastly acquires Domainr, launches new TLS Certification Authority
Todd Nightingale of Fastly
Fastly, Inc has announced two developments in its domain name API (application programming interface) and Transport Layer Security (TLS) capabilities. The acquisition of Domainr, an ICANN-accredited real-time domain availability API provider, as well as general availability of Certainly, Fastly’s TLS Certification Authority (CA). These developments advance Fastly’s edge cloud platform as well as its mission to foster a global web infrastructure that is more accessible and secure.
“Through the availability of Certainly and the acquisition of Domainr, we are continuing to empower our customers to own and control what they create, and how they create it all backed by the most trusted and reliable domain availability and TLS experience possible,” says Fastly CEO Todd Nightingale. “By offering these fundamental building blocks alongside our content delivery network, Compute@Edge, and beyond, Fastly is proud to be an engine for the best builders and the best platforms on the internet.”
Certainly provides simple TLS certificates for Fastly customers
TLS provides security and legitimacy to websites or applications by serving traffic over HTTPS (hypertext transfer protocol secure). For TLS to work, domains need to be validated and approved by CA that issues certificates to web servers, thus confirming ownership of a site. In response to several CA incidents affecting Fastly customers, Fastly set out to create a modern CA that embraces industry best practices, and released Certainly in limited availability in February 2023.
Certainly gives users the option to create and manage certificates issued by Certainly to secure any website or API endpoint served by Fastly. By bringing the essential capability of issuing TLS certificates in-house, Certainly gives Fastly greater control over the level of service it provides throughout the entire certification lifecycle, from provisioning to renewing, all backed by Fastly’s speedy global delivery network. By offering a 30-day validity period paired with automation, Certainly achieves a higher level of security by reducing the time in which a compromised certificate is usable. Certainly also simplifies management of certificates and renewals, even for hundreds of thousands of domains.
Domainr acquisition sets the stage for enhanced domain simplification and security
As a direct complement to Certainly’s role in verifying the authenticity and trustworthiness of a website and domain, the acquisition of Domainr will enable Fastly to integrate Domainr’s real-time domain availability API into Fastly services and infrastructure. With direct, privileged access to top-level domain registries, the Domainr API instantly checks if a domain is available, with no false positives. The API also helps customers monitor critical domains and uncover at-risk domains before they change hands.
“Domains are one of the primary foundations for trust and identity on the internet, but they have often been complex or inaccessible to work with. Domainr is truly unique, and this small acquisition sets the stage for Fastly to innovate in making it faster, safer and easier for everyone to build on the power of domains,” says Anil Dash, head of glitch and vice president of developer experience at Fastly. “Just as Fastly’s security products look at the entire internet as a whole to anticipate and prevent attacks, Domainr’s API and view of the domain name ecosystem will enable new ways of preventing risks around domains in the future. Added together, Certainly and Domainr are great examples of how Fastly is working to make the entire internet better for all users, at every layer of its infrastructure.”
Domainr also helps developers brainstorm for ideation and creation of app and business names with its instant search and context-aware suggestion capability, highlighting relevant and available top-level domains even if the .com is taken.
Fastly customers can now look forward to superior end-to-end services and customer support for all TLS and domain name availability needs as Fastly continues to expand its infrastructure capabilities.
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