Listeners, please note that this episode was recorded before the show’s name changed to Found in the Machine, so you’ll hear the old name in this episode.
Every time you type a web address, you're trusting a directory. A vast, invisible system that translates the names you know into the numbers that actually move data across the internet. You trust it the way a town trusts its well.
In 2008, a security researcher named Dan Kaminsky discovered that the well had no lid.
In this episode
- DNS - the Domain Name System and why it matters
- Dan Kaminsky - security researcher and internet advocate
- Cache poisoning - the class of attack Dan found hiding in the internet's foundation
- The patch - a secret meeting, a deadline, and a synchronized fix
Episode Music
Additional Reading
Choi, S. G. (n.d.). Remote DNS attacks and DNS defenses [Lecture notes, IT432 Advanced Computer and Network Security]. U.S. Naval Academy. https://www.usna.edu/Users/cs/choi/it432/lec/l07/lec.html
Vixie, P. (2008, July 14). Not a guessing game. CircleID. https://circleid.com/posts/87143_dns_not_a_guessing_game/
Internet Hall of Fame. (2022, March 23). A dedicated approach to Internet security: Daniel Kaminsky. https://www.internethalloffame.org/2022/03/23/dedicated-approach-internet-security-daniel-kaminsky/
Kaminsky, D. (2008). Black Ops 2008: It's the end of the cache as we know it [Conference presentation, DEF CON 16]. Video: https://media.blackhat.com/bh-usa-08/video/bh-us-08-Kaminsky/black-hat-usa-08-kaminsky-blackops08-hires.m4v (Note: this is Kaminsky's DEF CON Black Ops talk, not Black Hat)
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