VeriSign announced today that DNSSEC has been deployed in the .net zone, noting it the zone is the:

…largest yet to be DNSSEC enabled, with more than 13 million domain name registrations worldwide. The .net signing also represents one of the most critical implementations of DNSSEC technology, since .net serves as the underpinning for many critical Internet functions.

The announcement came at the end of the ICANN meeting in Cartagena, which featured DNSSEC in the president’s opening statement, a DNSSEC for Beginners workshop and a full day session on deployment in the region and around the world.

VeriSign expects to sign the .com zone in the first quarter of 2011.  During the ICANN meeting this week, VeriSign executives pointed to a Forrester Research study–expected to be released next week–that they say demonstrates increasing demand for DNSSEC in enterprises, fueled by higher customer demand.