Cybersecurity

97% of All Global 2000 Companies at Risk from SAD DNS Attack

There is a new threat in town known as "SAD DNS" that allows attackers to redirect traffic, putting companies at risk of phishing, data breach, reputation damage, and revenue loss. What is SAD DNS? No, it isn't the domain name system (DNS) feeling moody, but an acronym for a new-found threat -- "Side-channel AttackeD DNS" discovered by researchers that could revive DNS cache poisoning attacks. more

Behind the Smoke Screen of Internet and International Infrastructure

In my recent write-up I start by discussing some recent threats network operators should be aware of, such as recursive DNS attacks. Then, a bit on the state of the Internet, cooperation across different fields and how these latest threats with DDoS also relate to worms and bots, as well as spam, phishing and the immense ROI organized crime sees. I try and bring some suggestions on what can be done better, and where we as a community, as well as specifically where us, the "secret hand-shake clubs" of Internet security fail and succeed. Over-secrecy, lack of cooperation, lack of public information, and not being secret enough about what really matters. more

KnujOn Releases New Security, Abuse and Compliance Report

We have just issued a new report detailing abuse of the Domain Name System and Registrar contract compliance issues. The report specifically discusses several items including: Registrars with current legal issues; Illicit Use of Privacy-Proxy WHOIS Registration; A study on the contracted obligation for Bulk WHOIS Access; and more. more

Industry Makes Rapid Progress on DNSSEC

DNSSEC is being rolled out quickly in top-level domain registries around the world, but there's still some way to go to encourage other Internet stakeholders to adopt the new security technology. That was one of the key takeaways from a day-long, comprehensive session on Domain Name System Security Extensions implementation worldwide, held during ICANN's public meeting in Cartagena, Colombia, last week. more

Another Day, Another Set of Hacking Attacks. News At 11.

While reading Reuters I came across a news article indicating that a number of high profile agencies - from the United Nations to the Canadian Government to government of Taiwan - were broken into over a period of the past five years. ... I'll say it right now, even though I haven't been briefed on it. It was China. more

Domain Name Registries Must Do More to Protect Highly-Trafficked Domains

With the recent attacks against high-profile New Zealand domain names including Coca-Cola.co.nz and F-Secure.co.nz, fingers are naturally pointing to Domainz, the registrar of record for these domains, as the party responsible for this lapse in security. While domain name registrars certainly need to ensure the security and stability of their systems, domain name registries must also step up and take responsibility for mitigating risks posed by hackers... more

Takeaways from the DNS-OARC’s 28th Workshop

March has seen the first of the DNS Operations, Analysis, and Research Center (OARC) workshops for the year, where two days of too much DNS is just not enough! These workshops are concentrated within two days of presentations and discussions that focus exclusively on the current state of the DNS. Here are my impressions of the meeting. more

Illusory Correlation and Security

Fear sells. Fear of missing out, fear of being an imposter, fear of crime, fear of injury, fear of sickness ... we can all think of times when people we know (or worse, people in the throes of madness of crowds) have made really bad decisions because they were afraid of something. Bruce Schneier has documented this a number of times. For instance: "it's smart politics to exaggerate terrorist threats" and ... more

Internet Governance Has Become a Non-Issue

It's funny, but I recall the battle cry that the WWW was "free" back in its early days. When contributing game concept to the early and great gaming pioneers like Infocom, there was such a great esprit-du-corps amongst our team regarding the fun as well as utility that the WWW offerred. In retrospect, we were so naive. I recall the days when guys like Bill Gates prided themselves on being such a great "hackers" - it was a noble term back then.  more

.BANK Launches With a Bang

The 30-day .BANK Sunrise Period just concluded this week and is notable for several reasons. The .BANK TLD is highly restricted to members of the banking industry. The .BANK Registry (which also has rights to .INSURANCE, launching this fall), was founded by 24 companies and organizations from the banking and insurance industries, The Registry's founders include industry leaders such as the American Banking Association, Citigroup, Dollar Bank, Independent Community Bankers of America, JPMorgan, Visa and Wells Fargo. more

Day 30: Kaminsky DNS Bug Disclosure

In a highly anticipated presentation, Internet security researcher Dan Kaminsky today gave details of the much talked about Domain Name System (DNS) vulnerability issue which has been intensely covered since it was publicly announced a month ago on Jul 8th. Although original plans entailed keeping the bug details undisclosed for 30 days in order to allow for necessary security patches to be implemented around the world, details of the bug were eventually leaked-and-confirmed 13 days after its public announcement. Even so, just hours ago in jam-packed ballroom during the Black Hat conference, Kaminsky delivered his 100-plus-slide presentation detailing the DNS flaw that, if exploited, could potentially "destroy the Web". more

ICANN SSAD Proposal Poised to Succeed?

The GNSO Council and the ICANN Board both seem poised to grant sufficient runway to the community to refine an idea for a simple ticketing system designed to centralize requests for registrant information disclosures and provide meaningful data that is likely to help ICANN staff enhance its assessment of the SSAD proposal. This is very good news for those who advocate for consumer safety and trust on the Internet, and it is very good news for the ICANN multistakeholder model. more

China Betting on IPv6 and First Mover Advantage

The United States' reluctance to invest in IPv6 makes it more likely that China will be in a position to gain the first-mover advantage it seeks. ...Liu Dong, president of the Beijing Internet Institute sums it up succinctly: "We think we can develop the killer applications," he says. China plans to show the rest of the world just how advanced its Internet is at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. CNGI will control the facilities -- everything from security cameras to the lighting and thermostats -- at the Olympic venues, and events will be broadcast live over the Internet. Even the taxis in Beijing's snarled traffic will connect to CNGI via IPv6 sensors so that dispatchers will be able to direct their drivers away from congestion. more

EU CRA: Regulatory Extremism and Exceptionalism

European Union (EU) legislators, like most of the world, are troubled about the increasing number and severity of cybersecurity incidents. However, unlike most of the world, which is taking a flexible, adaptive Zero Trust Model approach of continuous controls for cyberdefense, the EU government is pursuing a vastly expanded version of the failed Common Criteria certification model coupled with regulatory extremism and exceptionalism strategies. more

Join InterCommunity 2015 on July 7/8 to Talk Future of Internet Governance, Security, Access

What are the most pressing Internet governance issues in the next 2-5 years? What are the biggest priorities in terms of making the Internet more secure and trusted? What are the best ways to bring the next 3 billion people online? Those will all be topics of discussion at the "InterCommunity 2015" meeting taking place this week on July 7 and 8. The meeting will not take place at any one physical location... more