Shorter, safer: Wake County changes domain name to .gov

Wake County on Tuesday announced the county's website and staff email addresses have changed from wakegov.com to wake.gov.

The change, which had to be approved by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, is better for search and security.

“We want people to trust the links and emails they receive from us. These days, anyone can buy a .com website or email address and use it to spoof Wake County,” said Chair Shinica Thomas of the Wake County Board of Commissioners. “They can’t purchase a .gov domain, so by moving the county to wake.gov, we’re increasing security and protecting our residents from fraud.”

People who type wakegov.com will be redirected to the more secure wake.gov website, and emails will work the same way, officials said.

The .gov domain is more secure, because only qualified U.S.-based government agencies are permitted to use it.

There was no cost to obtain the .gov domain, and the cost of switching over all of Wake County’s systems was paid for with maintenance funds already budgeted by the county’s Information Services Department, officials said.