Modern Internet standards compliance test suite

Internet.nl is a compliance test suite for modern Internet standards. The tool helps you to check whether your internet is up to date. Do your website, email and internet connection use modern and reliable Internet Standards? And if they don't, what can you do about it?

The tool, which is available in Dutch and English, comprises tests for modern Internet standards like IPv6 (modern address), DNSSEC (domain signature), HTTPS (secure website connection), HTTP security headers and security.txt (security options), DMARC, DKIM and SPF (protection against email spoofing), STARTTLS and DANE (secure email transport) and RPKI (authorisation for routing). A score is given, representing how well your domain, email and/or local connection apply these standards in practice. If you do not (fully) use the standard(s), besides the score you also receive information on how to improve the situation. In the case that you have a 100% score, you will be added to the hall of fame.

Besides the tests, a lot of background information, as well as tooling, links and news items are available on the website. There is also an API/dashboard for testing multiple domains (https://dashboard.internet.nl).

Internet.nl is an initiative of the Dutch Internet Standards Platform. The aim of the platform is to jointly increase the use of modern Internet standards to make the Internet more accessible, safer and more reliable for everyone. The platform is a collaboration between parties from the Internet community and the Dutch government.

The original internet standards date from the 70s and 80s, when the number of internet users was small. Nowadays, there are more than three billion users worldwide. And these people use the internet more and more for transactions that are privacy-sensitive and costly. The old standards cannot really meet this scale nor the modern safety requirements. For instance, criminals are abusing the SMTP standard to spoof the sender address of an email. This means that we have to start using new, smarter standards that keep our internet reliable. The good news is that these modern Internet Standards are available.

Unfortunately, these modern Internet standards are much underused. Not using these modern standards is a risk for the individual internet user. However, often users are not aware of it (because the standards are "under the hood") and there are economic network effects that prevent users from fully benefiting immediately ("first mover disadvantage"). Therefore, to increase adoption, we believe it is necessary to make it more transparent whether these modern Internet standards are being used and, in addition, co-operation and collective action are needed to reach critical mass.