Biden-Harris Transition: Official .gov Domain Launched

At last, after nearly three weeks, the official Biden-Harris transition process is now underway.

The General Services Administration authorized the Biden-Harris team on Monday to move from campaign operations to preparing for governing, granting access to governmental resources such as office facilities, along with classified intelligence reports and secure computing systems. This development also includes the launch of a new .gov web address.

The transition process is a relatively unknown aspect of the law, infrequently discussed because typically, both departing and incoming administrations collaborate to ensure a smooth and uninterrupted transfer of power. This process is officially initiated by the General Services Administration, a federal agency responsible for the fundamental operations of the government, and enables the incoming administration to obtain the necessary funding, instruments, and support to prepare for taking office.

However, in this instance, the agency administrator, Emily Murphy, had initially hesitated to formally begin the transition period following the filing of multiple legal challenges to the election results by the Trump campaign.

Ms. Murphy ultimately authorized the transition on Monday following the certification of the election results in Michigan.

Until recently, the Biden-Harris team utilized buildbackbetter.com as the address for their transition website. It is now located at buildbackbetter.gov, differing from the ptt.gov domain employed by the incoming Obama-Biden administration in 2008.

According to a report in The Wall Street Journal last week, the Biden-Harris team had been relying on Google Workspace for email and collaborative tools, protected by hardware security keys required for account access. While adequate for many organizations, this arrangement raised concerns among security professionals regarding the potential vulnerability to attacks due to the absence of dedicated government cybersecurity assistance.

Regarding the domain name, which may seem a minor detail, the move to a .gov address represents a substantial improvement in the team’s cybersecurity posture. Government domains, operating under the .gov extension, are fortified to defend against domain hijacking or impersonation. Essentially, they offer a significantly higher level of protection compared to standard web hosting services.

President-elect Biden announced the new domain name via a post on Twitter.