ICANN explains attack on DNS root servers

The factsheet is intended to provide an explanation of the attack for a non-technical audience in the hope of enlarging public understanding surrounding this and related issues.

Aside from covering the attack itself and the engineers' response to it, the factsheet also briefly reviews the root server system, the domain name system, Anycast technology, and what can be done in order to deal with such attacks in future.

It is hoped that the factsheet will be the first in a series, with ICANN's general manager of public participation, Kieren McCarthy, acting as series editor. Future factsheets hope to follow a similar approach of providing clear and topical non-technical information about various aspects of the Internet in which ICANN is involved.