Verisign (VRSN) risk factors: FY2025 10-K

1. Cybersecurity and Technology Risk FactorsCybersecurity
2. Attempted security breaches, including from the exploitation of vulnerabilities, cyber-attacks and Distributed Denial of Service (“DDoS”) attacks against our systems and services increase our costs, expose us to potentially material liability, and could materially harm our business and reputation.Cybersecurity
3. We may introduce undetected or unknown defects into our systems or services, which could materially harm our business and harm our vendors or our customers.
4. Our infrastructure and services are subject to vulnerabilities in the global routing system for the internet, as well as risks arising from internet services providers’ increasing adoption of the Resource Public Key Infrastructure system.
5. We could encounter system interruptions or system failures resulting from activities beyond our direct control that could materially harm our business.
6. Our data centers, our data center systems, including the Shared Registration Systems located at our data centers, and our resolution systems are vulnerable to damage or interruption, which could impede our ability to provide our services, expose us to material liability, and materially harm our reputation.
7. We face risks from the operation of the root server system and our performance of the Root Zone Maintainer functions under the RZMA.
8. Contractual, Regulatory, Legal and Compliance Risk Factors
9. Any loss or modification of our right to operate the .com and .net gTLDs could have a material adverse impact on our business and result in loss of revenues.
10. Changes or challenges to the pricing provisions in the .com Registry Agreement could have a material adverse impact on our business.
11. Government regulation and the application of new and existing laws in the U.S. and internationally may slow business growth, increase our costs of doing business, create potential material liability and could have a material adverse effect on our business.
12. New laws, regulations, directives or ICANN policies that require us to obtain and maintain personal information of registrants of domain names in the .com and .net gTLDs could impose material compliance costs and could create new, material legal and other risks to our business.
13. Our international operations expose us and our business to additional economic, legal, regulatory and political risks that could have a material adverse impact on our revenues and business.
14. Changes in, or interpretations of, tax rules and regulations or our tax positions may materially and adversely affect our income taxes.
15. Our business faces risks arising from ICANN’s consensus and temporary policies, technical standards and other processes.
16. Weakening of, or changes to, the multi-stakeholder form of internet governance could materially and adversely impact our business.
17. Claims, lawsuits, audits or investigations in which we are or could become involved may result in material adverse outcomes to our business.
18. Economic and Competition Risk Factors
19. Challenging global economic conditions have in the past and may in the future negatively impact our business.
20. The business environment is highly competitive and, if we do not compete effectively, we may suffer material adverse impact to our business, including lower demand for our products, reduced gross margins, and loss of market share.
21. Strategic, Business and Operating Risk Factors
22. The evolution of technologies or internet practices and behaviors, the adoption of substitute technologies, or wholesale price increases of domain names in the gTLDs we operate may materially and negatively impact the demand for the domain names for which we are the registry operator.
23. If we fail to expand our services into developing and emerging economies in international locations, our business may not grow.
24. Our business depends on registrars and their resellers maintaining focus on marketing our products and services.reworded
25. We depend on highly skilled employees to maintain and provide innovative solutions for our business, and our business could be materially harmed if we are not able to attract and retain such qualified talent.

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1. We may not pay any dividends on our common stock in the future.new

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1. We rely on our intellectual property rights to protect our proprietary assets, and any failure by us to protect or enforce, or any misappropriation of, our intellectual property could materially harm our business.

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1. The use of AI technology by third-parties, including our vendors, and our use of AI technology, tools, and services could expose us to cybersecurity, operational, intellectual property and regulatory risks that could adversely affect our business, reputation or financial results.newAICybersecurity
2. Short sellers have in the past, and may in the future, engage in efforts to lower the market price of our common stock through the dissemination of false or misleading information.new

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