New digital trust mark for Irish organisations 'like an NCT'

The wolfhound symbol will appear on accredited businesses online

Louise McKeown Doogan, Chief Growth Officer at .IE, with Irish wolfhound Tara, representing the symbol of Ireland’s first Digital Trust Mark which has been launched by the national domain registry. Picture: Robbie Reynolds

Almost one in five of Ireland’s top companies have experienced significant cyber attacks in the last two years, new research for the national domain registry .IE showed. 

The research found that 17% of Ireland’s key organisations have experienced a significant cyber attack since 2024. “Our findings are concerning, particularly when we know phishing scams (60%) and the exploitation of system weaknesses (21.3%) are the most common ways attackers gain access,” said .IE chief growth officer Louise McKeown Doogan. The research was conducted by Amárach on behalf of .IE, looking at 354 essential Irish firms in January.

The findings come as .IE launched Ireland’s first digital trust mark. The new digital trust mark is described "as an NCT for your online identity, websites, and emails". It carries a distinctive wolfhound symbol which aims to give customers confidence that businesses of all sizes are operating to the highest digital standards.

“If you have an online presence, you can now be assessed on DigitalTrust.ie in just a few clicks,” said Ms McKeown Doogan.  “Once an organisation applies, their website, email and domain setup is assessed using a proprietary scoring evaluation that checks against industry-defined best practice.

“These checks confirm that digital fundamentals are correctly configured, responsibly managed and set up to support trust and reliability online."

The Digital Trust Mark is also open to .com and other domains used by Irish organisations. Applicants will receive a grade by the next working day and if an A-rating is achieved, businesses can display the mark on their website or in their email signature for the following 12 months. Domains that do not reach an A-rating will be given a detailed outline of what and how they can improve.