Chinese root server is shut down - DNS and censorship

[Rafik Dammak]

Hi,

I recommend this article (well translation from French to English), there
are more technical details:
http://serendipity.ruwenzori.net/index.php/2010/03/26/dns-spoofing-in-china-by-stephane-bortzmeyer

Rafik

2010/4/3 Brenden Kuerbis <bkuerbis at internetgovernance.org>

> 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
>>
>>
>>
>>
>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.ncuc.org/pipermail/ncuc-discuss/attachments/20100403/0c87e337/attachment.html>