BBC News | July 27, 2010

Bath entrepreneur has been selected to safeguard the future of internet security across the world.

Paul Kane has been chosen to look after one of seven keys, which will 'restart the world wide web' in the event of a catastrophic event.

Mr Kane, based at the University of Bath's SETsquared Innovation Centre, will be the key holder for Western Europe.

Six other people from across the globe have also been asked to look after a key.

In the event of a security breach - such as a terrorist attack - Mr Kane may be required to travel to a secure location in the US.

Here he will meet five other key holders, to recover the master signing key.

Mr Kane said: "I'm honoured and excited to be recognised for past achievements and current contributions to global internet security.

"We are very pleased to be part of stimulating innovation in the Bath area and see the University of Bath becoming a global centre of excellence for enabling internet technologies."

 Mr Kane and his team at CommunityDNS were brought in as internet specialists to work in partnership with the university.

Simon Bond from SETsquared Innovation Centre said: "We're delighted to provide an environment where leading British entrepreneurs like Paul Kane can develop globally significant businesses.

"It's an honour for Bath to be one of the locations for the 'keys to the internet' and it is an acknowledgement of the strength of our region and the individuals who live here in global internet security."

From this month, the internet will become more secure through a new international agreement and process which verifies web sites and helps protect email accounts from fraud, using high tech cryptographic keys.

DNSSEC (domain name system security) is a new online security system that ensures people reach a genuine website, rather than a look-alike pirate site.

It is estimated that up to 8% of internet traffic is fraudulent, and it is hoped that this agreement is a 'major advance' in increasing internet security.

You can find out more about the 'keys' via a short video on the CommunityDNS website.