DNSSEC applies digital signatures to DNS data to authenticate the data's origin and verify its integrity as it moves throughout the internet.
The security extensions are designed to protect the DNS from attacks intended to redirect queries to malicious sites by corrupting DNS data stored on recursive servers.
Advocates claim the successful implementation of DNSSEC will eliminate a hacker's ability to manipulate DNS data because the resulting digital signatures on that DNS data are validated through a "chain of trust".
A high percentage of companies said they already support, or are testing support for DNSSEC, according to the study by Forrester Research commissioned by internet infrastructure services firm VeriSign.
The study, to be published on December 14, found that most companies polled believed support for DNSSEC could be implemented within six months, and 75% indicated a desire to participate in VeriSign's DNSSEC Interoperability Lab.
"The internet is an increasingly critical infrastructure for our government, economy, society and national security, which is why it's so important that the entire internet community adopt DNSSEC," said Pat Kane, assistant general manager of naming services at VeriSign.
"If hardware vendors, software companies, ISPs, registries and registrars work collaboratively, it will help to facilitate a smooth, widely effective implementation of DNSSEC," he said.
VeriSign, in collaboration with the Department of Commerce and ICANN, deployed DNSSEC in the DNS root zone in July. The company deployed DNSSEC in the .edu zone in August, and expects to sign .net by the end of this year and .com by the end of the first quarter of 2011.
This story was first published by Computer Weekly