Major Internet vulnerability won't be closed until 2011

Posted on Monday, November 16 2009 @ 22:35 CET by Thomas De Maesschalck
VeriSign announced it is working towards fixing a significant vulnerability in the DNS system. The DNS vulnerability was publicised by security researcher Dan Kaminsky and had been known earlier, but unfortunately it will take VeriSign until Q1 2011 to fix it.
The problem is that DNS, the Domain Name System that translates internet addresses such as website URLs into numerical values, can be seeded with false values and used to misdirect users. VeriSign told ZDNet on Friday that it will put in place DNSSEC, a protocol which will guarantee the origin and integrity of DNS data, for the .com and .net domains by the first quarter of 2011.

"Both .net and .com are very large domains," said Pat Kane, VeriSign vice president of naming services.

Kane added that ".net alone has more than 12 million domain names. Our first priority is to safely and securely implement DNSSEC, as it impacts the Domain Name System, one of the core building blocks of the internet".
More details at ZD NEt.


About the Author

Thomas De Maesschalck

Thomas has been messing with computer since early childhood and firmly believes the Internet is the best thing since sliced bread. Enjoys playing with new tech, is fascinated by science, and passionate about financial markets. When not behind a computer, he can be found with running shoes on or lifting heavy weights in the weight room.



Loading Comments