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: Sec. Several others including UK, Mexico, Japan, Korea and Taiwan are learnt to be considering these.
Security researcher Dan Kaminsky announced the design flaw in the fundamental DNS protocol in July. Called DNS cache poisoning, it allows criminals to comb through the contents of emails and online messages and also gain access to other password-protected websites of the victims. While the number of attacks has risen sharply since then, few have been publicised. Prominent is the one that allowed Internet hackers to reroute some computer users in Texas to fake a Google.com site loaded with automated advertisement-clicking programs. It was a scam to generate profits for the hackers from those clicks. Major vendors like Microsoft, Cisco and Sun have issued patches to cover the security hole and prevent infected machines from taking in bogus information from hackers.
At issue is the trustworthiness of DNS, which serves as the Internet’s phone book. Thus when you type www.financialexpress.com in your browser’s location, you could download the homepage of a malicious website hosted by a criminal, who had loaded it with malaware and phishing attempts. The problem gets much more serious if hackers route every person attempting to log into the website of a bank like HDFC or ICICI to a fake site controlled by the attacker. Many compare it to turning around street signs to send drivers down the wrong roads where criminals live.
The problem is being fixed but large parts of the Internet still remain under risk. Security experts fear an open season for virus attacks and identity fraud scams. This, according to Crocker, is a wakeup call for every corporate network and Internet service provider. “All of them need to check their DNS and upgrade if vulnerable. They also need to strengthen their monitoring process to check spurious traffic,” he says. “Every Internet user who banks online or buys tickets over the Internet should check the security level provided by his ISP,” advises Ram of Afilias....
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