DNS

DNS Insecurity

The Internet as we know it and use it today -- is broken, badly broken. Yes broken so much so that we are really crazy to have any expectations of privacy or security. Yes, really. The Internet was conceived as somewhat of a utopian environment, one where we all keep our doors, windows and cars unlocked and we trust all the people and machines out there to "do the right thing...". more

Increasing the Strength of the Zone Signing Key for the Root Zone, Part 2

A few months ago I published a blog post about Verisign's plans to increase the strength of the Zone Signing Key (ZSK) for the root zone. I'm pleased to provide this update that we have started the process to pre-publish a 2048-bit ZSK in the root zone for the first time on Sept. 20. Following that, we will publish root zones with the larger key on Oct. 1, 2016. more

New Publication on Updating the Anti-Cybersquatting Regime and Ad-Based Cybersquatting

Sealing the cracks: a proposal to update the anti-cybersquatting regime to combat advertising-based cybersquatting is the title of an article by Christopher Varas in the April issue of the Journal of Intellectual Property Law & Practice. In this article, the author labels "modern cybersquatting" the monetization of domain names through PPC advertisements, and says that brand owners lack effective tools to combat this practice... more

Today Marks a Giant Step Towards DNSSEC Deployment

The global deployment of Domain Name System Security Extensions (DNSSEC) is charging ahead. With ICANN 38 Brussels just around the corner, DNSSEC deployment will inevitably be the hot topic of discussion over the next few days. Case in point, today, ICANN hosted the first production key ceremony at a secure facility in Culpepper, Va. where the first cryptographic digital key was used to secure the Internet root zone. The ceremony's goal was simple: for the global Internet community to trust that the procedures involved with DNSSEC are executed correctly and that the private key materials are stored securely. more

Probability of ROI and Tighter Network Security by Blocking Malicious Subdomains

Failing to block a stealthy malicious host from making connections to your network could cost your company millions of dollars, a damaged reputation, and severe losses in sensitive private data. Threat intel teams have faced on-going problems: Expensive feeds that are slow to catch new threats; Chasing false positives in alerts wastes time and money; and Vendors selling a new appliance for every ill. Would 100% of your users Spot the Bot? more

A Recap of the 36th ICANN Conference in Seoul, Korea

The recently completed ICANN Conference in Seoul, Korea will be remembered for a unique accomplishment -- the first definitive step towards the addition of Internationalized Domain Names (IDNs) to the Internet root... As the announcement states, the applicants, at this time, are limited to nations and territories; the first IDNs will be in country code top level domains (ccTLDs). The generic TLDs, (the gTLDs, e.g., .org, .com and .info) will have to wait for their opportunity to apply for IDNs... more

Building a New Era of Trust on the Internet

Since Tim Berners-Lee first introduced us to the world wide web, we have seen several major phases of its growth. From the early years -- where researchers and open Internet pioneers led the way; to the dot-com boom; to the era of social media domination; the web has come a long way. While the pandemic circling the globe has undermined many critical systems and institutions of our society, I believe it also has the potential to strengthen is the resolve of the Internet community... more

Who Played a Major Role in Advancing the Internet? Nominations Open for 2019 Internet Hall of Fame

Do you know someone who has played a major role in the development and advancement of the Internet? Now is the time to recognize their contribution. Nominate them for the 2019 Internet Hall of Fame. With more than 100 inductees, the Internet Hall of Fame celebrates Internet pioneers and innovators who have pushed the boundaries to bring the Internet to life and make it an essential resource for billions of people today. more

Neustar and Afilias Jump on the No-Tasting Bandwagon

In a message posted to the ICANN GNSO list, Avri Doria forwarded along a most interesting document from Neustar, who runs the .biz domain... Neustar proposes to change their registrar agreement so that each registrar will only get credit for deletions of 10% of their new domains, with a few minor exceptions for tiny registrars and bulk registrations due to one-time mistakes. They say they expect Afilias to propose the same change for .info.  more

Seeking Proposals for ICANN 53 DNSSEC Workshop on June 24, 2015, in Buenos Aires

Are you interested in sharing lessons you've learned in deploying DNSSEC or DANE with the wider community? Have you performed new measurements related to DNSSEC deployment that you want to share publicly? Do you have a new tool or service that you think people in the DNSSEC community would find interesting? Are you seeking feedback on some ideas you have to make DNSSEC better or easier to deploy? more

.com Is A Clear and Present Danger to Online Safety

"The Internet is the real world now." This assessment was offered by Protocol, a technology industry news site, following the very real violence on Capitol Hill during the counting of the electoral college votes that officially determines the next president of the United States. The media outlet went on to say that, "[t]he only difference is, you can do more things and reach more people online -- with truth and with lies -- than you can in the real world." more

New Book: Managing Mission Critical Domains & DNS

The idea behind my recent book "Managing Mission Critical Domains & DNS" is to provide a unifying overview around the area of domains and naming where I think there exists an artificial divide, and that divide exists between domain policy, and managing ones' domain portfolio; and the DNS ops side of things: running your nameservers or outsourcing to a vendor, or both. I've been doing this for over 20 years, I've seen almost every failure condition that can happen to your domain or DNS... more

Is the New gTLD Program Approval Even a Chance for This Year?

As I noted in my recent comments on CircleID, the recent resolutions from the Special Meeting of the ICANN Board held in Norway in late September left a few important new gTLD issues up in the air and created a little uncertainty in the marketplace. ... However, whilst sign-off on the program is still not guaranteed to occur in December, a recent interesting post on the GNSO mailing list from ICANN's Senior Vice President... more

Solving the .US Registrant Data Directory Services (RDDS) Conundrum

Recently ten Democratic Members of Congress wrote a letter to Alan Davidson, head of the NTIA, requesting that the "NTIA immediately cease the public disclosure of personal information about users of .US" country code top-level domain (ccTLD). This communication highlights a significant concern regarding domain registration data: the need to protect the privacy rights of Registrants. However, an equally significant concern regarding registration data was raised... more

Some Random Notes from IETF 115

The IETF held its 115th meeting in London in November 2022. This was another in the set of hybrid meetings with specific support for online attendees in addition to the normal face-to-face meetings for the week. In no particular order, here are a few of my impressions from the IETF meeting. more