Case Study: Canadian Internet Registration Authority (CIRA) achieves rapid, affordable deployment of a high-capacity DNS Firewall with Akamai Technologies

CIRA Launches Highly Effective and Affordable DNS Firewall Service Using Akamai SPS Secure Business

The Canadian Internet Registration Authority (CIRA), which manages the .CA domain, wanted to expand beyond its legacy DNS offerings to provide a recursive DNS service with content filtering and a real-time threat feed—but lacked the in-house data and wanted to keep DNS data in Canada without a large capital outlay. Customers, especially in education and government, needed an affordable, easy-to-manage layer of protection against malware, ransomware, and phishing that met Canadian data-sovereignty requirements.

CIRA partnered with Akamai (using SPS Secure Business and DNSi Big Data Connector) to launch the D‑Zone DNS Firewall: a cloud-based, turnkey service with smart resolvers across Canada and continuous threat-feed updates. The solution went from trial to live in nine months, now protects about 1.5 million Canadians (including 70+ municipalities), drove a 90% reduction in desktops impacted by spear phishing, avoided major capital investment, and positioned CIRA to grow cybersecurity revenue and offerings.

Canadian Internet Registration Authority (CIRA)

Mark Gaudet

Business Development and Product Manager