Taipei: Non-profit organizations (NPOs) in Taiwan can now apply for free “green domain” certification for their org.tw websites under a new program launched by the Taiwan Network Information Center (TWNIC) to guard against phishing scams and bolster public trust in online donations.
According to Focus Taiwan, some NPOs have been facing challenges as fraud rings have been creating fake versions of their websites to scam donors. TWNIC CEO Jofan Yu, in an exclusive interview with CNA, highlighted the issue, noting that donations were being diverted to phishing sites, leading to a decline in fundraising and reputational harm.
Yu expressed concern that such incidents make people hesitant to click on genuine sites in the future. To mitigate these concerns, TWNIC introduced the “Digital Trust Enhancement Program for org.tw” on Oct. 20. This program allows NPOs using org.tw domains to apply for free “green domain” certification.
TWNIC, supervised by the Ministry of Digital Affairs, is Taiwan’s national internet information center, responsible for coordinating domain name registrations and IP address allocations. The certification process involves verifying that the applicant and its org.tw domain match the corresponding registered NPO in Taiwan, including foreign non-profit organizations with Taiwanese registration.
Once verified, the domain is marked as a “green domain” in TWNIC’s lookup system, signaling public trust. During a system test, CNA found that verified domains included statements of successful certification and accurate registration information, along with details like the service activation date and the NPO’s registration number.
As of the latest update, nearly 100 applications for the program have been received from a varied group of NPOs. Additionally, TWNIC offers a free monitoring and alert service to further protect NPOs online. This service, which has received about 70 applications, allows NPOs to monitor up to 50 similar org.tw domains and receive alerts about potentially impersonating domains, aided by AI scanning.