Domain Governance Baseline · Version 1.0

A small authored governance artefact, not an assessment platform.

The ten-question starting point for domain governance.

Domain Governance Baseline helps organisations determine whether the fundamentals of domain ownership, authority, renewal, DNS, email trust, dependencies, change control and incident readiness are understood and governed.

10 canonical questions Stable v1.0 core No scoring CC BY 4.0 content

If an organisation cannot answer one question clearly, that uncertainty is the starting point for follow-up. The Baseline is designed to move unresolved ownership, evidence and action into governance processes the organisation already operates.

Start a Baseline Review View the v1.0 reference See a worked walkthrough

Purpose and boundary

A governance starting point, not a judgement of maturity

The Baseline is intentionally small. It does not score, benchmark, certify or assure an organisation, and it does not create another workflow or assessment platform.

What it is for

Use the ten questions to make uncertainty around ownership, authority, DNS, email trust, dependencies, change and incident readiness explicit enough to govern.

Use

Board, executive and risk preparation; incident review; supplier assurance; and recurring domain-governance review.

Output

A Baseline Review Summary of priorities, evidence needs and practical next actions - not a score or assurance report.

Stewardship

Version 1.0 keeps the ten canonical questions stable enough to cite and reuse while supporting material improves through evidence from real use.

Why the review stays local

Organisations should be able to review ownership gaps, supplier dependencies and incident readiness without placing those answers into another external system.

No account

The interactive review requires no identity or sign-in.

No retained answers

Responses remain in the browser tab and disappear when the review is closed or reloaded.

No telemetry

The Baseline uses no analytics or backend assessment processing.

Canonical baseline

The ten questions

Version 1.0 establishes these questions as the stable citable core. The reference edition is the fixed source when exact wording matters.

Which domains do we own, and why do we own them?
Who is the accountable business owner for each domain?
Who has registrar access, and how is that access controlled?
When do the domains renew, and who receives renewal notices?
Which providers host authoritative DNS?
Which systems and suppliers rely on each domain?
Which domains are authorised to send email?
Are SPF, DKIM and DMARC configured and reviewed?
Are DNS changes logged, reviewed and recoverable?
What is the incident path if a domain, DNS record or email control fails?

Work through the ten questions Open the fixed reference edition

Use it in existing governance

Use the Baseline where domain governance already matters

It is most useful when a real governance moment requires evidence, ownership or a decision rather than another standalone programme.

Before a board, executive or risk update

Identify evidence gaps, accountable owners, decisions and escalation points that belong in the brief.

After a domain, DNS or email incident

Test whether the incident exposed unclear accountability, access, dependencies or recovery paths.

During supplier assurance

Review registrar, DNS, email and digital-service responsibilities before accepting that a supplier has the domain layer covered.

At a recurring domain review

Reconfirm that ownership, renewal, public signals and incident paths still reflect how the organisation operates today.

From baseline to practice

Understand it, use it, then move unresolved work into practice

The public surfaces have distinct roles so the Baseline can stay small and citable without losing a practical implementation path.

Baseline Review

Work through the ten questions privately, optionally consider six broader themes and generate a local review summary.

Start a Baseline Review →

Worked walkthrough

Follow one fictional organisation from an unchanged Baseline review through evidence, decisions, records, follow-up and recurring review.

Open the worked walkthrough →

Five bounded practice guides

Establish a domain register, control registrar and DNS authority, govern email authority, prepare for incidents and keep the practices current.

Move from baseline to practice →

Reference, reuse and stewardship

A stable authored artefact with an inspectable public record

The root URL remains the preferred citation for the Baseline. The fixed reference edition preserves exact Version 1.0 wording, while the citation surface explains reuse, versioning and stewardship.

Open v1.0 reference edition Citation and stewardship Read the source essay