Chinese root server is shut down - DNS and censorship

[McTim]

Brenden, these dns servers are anycast, so one IP address is announced
for all instances.  All isps and theeir transit providers see the same
IP for each rootserver, no matter its location, so one cant choose an
upstream based on this. If indeed it is official chinese govt dns
hacking, i would love to see all the rootops pull their nodes from
china, but this is unlikely to happen. If you or I performed this
attack, we would likely be prosecuted in many jurisdictions. Am on a
game drive now, so really cant elaborate.  regards, mctim

On 4/2/10, Brenden Kuerbis <bkuerbis at internetgovernance.org> wrote:
> Robin,
>
> Renesys has done the best write up of the incident:
>
> http://www.renesys.com/blog/2010/03/fouling-the-global-nest.shtml
>
> For me, the takeaway is that root server operators could choose to not
> locate root server instances in countries with govt's that censor the DNS.
> Similarly, ISPs could choose not to access root server instances through
> providers that are under govt pressure to censor the DNS.  Both scenarios
> might help prevent "leakage" of DNS censorship (but not eliminate it), and
> would probably diminish DNS availability for Internet users in censoring
> countries.
>
> A tough call for root operators/ISPs, and I think in many ways similar to
> what Google considered over the past year.  In any case, I think it should
> be clear here that the real problem is the government's censorship policy.
>
> I'd like to hear what others think.
>
>
> Brenden
>
>
> On Mon, Mar 29, 2010 at 1:21 AM, Robin Gross <robin at ipjustice.org> wrote:
>
>> I'd like to learn more about the implications for censorship in this
>> recent
>> episode with the Chinese root server and NIC server in Chile.    Any DNS
>> experts provide any guidance?
>>
>> Thanks,
>> Robin
>>
>>
>> http://www.itworld.com/networking/102576/after-dns-problem-chinese-root-server-shut-down
>>
>> After DNS problem, Chinese root server is shut down
>>
>> *The server is thought to have extended Chinese filtering technology to
>> Chile and the US*
>> by Robert McMillan <http://www.itworld.com/node/510>
>> *March 26, 2010, 08:10 PM —  *IDG News Service —
>>
>>
>> A China-based root DNS server associated with networking problems in
>> Chile
>> and the U.S. has been disconnected from the Internet.
>>
>> The action by the server's operator, Netnod, appears to have resolved a
>> problem that was causing some Internet sites to be inadvertently censored
>> by
>> a system set up in the People's Republic of China.
>>
>> On Wednesday, operators at NIC Chile noticed that several ISPs (Internet
>> service providers) were providing faulty DNS information, apparently
>> derived
>> from China. China uses the DNS system to enforce Internet censorship on
>> its
>> so-called Great Firewall of China, and the ISPs were using this incorrect
>> DNS information.
>>
>> That meant that users of the network trying to visit Facebook, Twitter
>> and
>> YouTube were directed to Chinese computers instead.
>>
>> In Chile, ISPs VTR, Telmex and several others -- all of them customers of
>> upstream provider Global Crossing -- were affected, NIC Chile said in a
>> statement<http://blogs.csoonline.com/1179/chile_nic_explains_great_firewall_incident>on
>> Friday. The problem, first publicly reported on Wednesday, appears to
>> have persisted for a few days before it was made public, the statement
>> says.
>>
>> A NIC Chile server in California was also hit with the problem, NIC Chile
>> said. While it's not clear how this server was getting the bad DNS
>> information, it came via either Network Solutions or Equinix, according
>> to
>> NIC Chile.
>>
>> Network Solutions wasn't to blame as it does not offer backbone provider
>> services to NIC Chile, said Rick Wilhelm, the company's vice president of
>> engineering. Equinix and Global Crossing could not immediately be reached
>> for comment.
>>
>> Netnod, which maintains a copy of its root DNS server in China, has now
>> "withdrawn route announcements" made by the server, according to company
>> CEO
>> Kurt Lindqvist. This effectively disconnects the server from the
>> Internet.
>> In an e-mail interview, Lindqvist said he could not recall when his
>> company
>> took this action.
>>
>> Netnod insists that its server did not contain the bad data that
>> redirected
>> Internet traffic, and security experts agree, saying that its data was
>> probably being altered by the Chinese government somewhere on China's
>> network, in order to enforce the country's Great Firewall.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> IP JUSTICE
>> Robin Gross, Executive Director
>> 1192 Haight Street, San Francisco, CA  94117  USA
>> p: +1-415-553-6261    f: +1-415-462-6451
>> w: http://www.ipjustice.org     e: robin at ipjustice.org
>>
>>
>>
>>
>

-- 
Sent from my mobile device

Cheers,

McTim
"A name indicates what we seek. An address indicates where it is. A
route indicates how we get there."  Jon Postel