LAS VEGAS?The Internet has undergone a "critical" upgrade that promises to stop cyber criminals from using fake websites that dupe people into downloading viruses or revealing personal data.

The agency in charge of managing Internet addresses teamed with online security services firm VeriSign and the US Department of Commerce to give websites encrypted identification to prove they are legitimate.

"This is, by any measure, an historic development," ICANN chief executive Rod Beckstrom said while breaking the news at a premier Black Hat computer security conference in Las Vegas on Wednesday.

"This security upgrade matters to everyone who uses a computer, and that means most of us."

The Domain Name System Security Extensions, referred to as DNSSEC, basically adds a secret, identifying code to each website address.

The domain name system is where the world's Internet addresses are stored and plays a key role in enabling computers around the world to speak with one another online.

Applications commonly used on the Internet can be tailored to essentially check the ID of a website to make certain it is what it claims to be, according to Dan Kaminsky, a hacker turned computer security specialist.

For example, web browser software such as Google or Bing could be adapted to tell whether a bank log-in page is authentic.

"When a user receives an email from a bank they should know it came from a bank," Kaminsky said. "This is something we needed as engineers to make this a reality."