Posts with keyword: dns

8 entries

Decentralized Public Key Infrastructure

Mon Feb 22 10:23:00 2016

Centralization leads to security, usability, and privacy problems. This paper shows that the problems of centralized directory systems like DNS and PKIK can be addressed through the use of decentralized directories like the blockchain to create a distributed PKI (DPKI).
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Building a Universal Silo

Tue Jun 3 10:22:00 2014

The Internet is being ruined by corporate silos that take away our personal freedom in exchange for services. Some think what we need is a universal silo that we can all be part of. There are different approaches to achieving that goal that will have very different outcomes.
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On Names and Heterarchy

Fri Apr 4 14:55:00 2014

Heterarchical (non-hierarchical) naming systems are vital if we are to avoid the pitfalls and dangers of surrendering our rights and our privacy to a tyranny of connected computers and devices that intermediate our lives at every level based on centralized authority. This post explores names and alternatives to names, including the use of bitcoin as a distributed directory that is immune from the problems that hierarchical solutions impose.
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Putting Your Own DNS Servers in ClearOS

Thu Oct 7 19:25:00 2010

I've been using a CentralPointe server as a gateway server in my home for years. DirectPointe (I'm on the board) used to offer these, but no longer does, so it had gotten out of date and wasn't being supported anymore. Fortunately, the same system (based on Point Clark Networks code) is available from the Clear Foundation as ClearOS. I like this software because it allows me to manage content filtering, etc. for my family centrally rather than relying on filtering software installed on each machine. It also provides intrusion detection and other services. The whole thing is based on
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Using the .tel TLD for Managing Contacts

Wed Mar 3 14:47:00 2010

This week's Technometria podcast is with Henri Asseily, the CTO of Telnic. Telnic is the registry for the .tel top-level domain. The .tel domain is a little different than most domains you might run across. For one, you can't point it at a Web site (although you can get email through it using MX records). The registry controls the A records for the domain and they all point to a contact page. For example, here's my .tel domain: windley.tel. I, of course, control all this data using a Web page that they provide for that purpose. The nifty thing
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Taking DNS Security for Granted

Tue Sep 9 19:11:00 2008

One of the hallway conversations I had yesterday was about how DNS is just hanging on by a thread from a security standpoint. The basic idea is that if I can control name resolution for you, I can phish you all day and you'll never know. Systems like OpenID are wholly dependent on the integrity of the DNS system. One method an attacker can use to insert themselves in the DNS resolution process is a Wi-Fi hub. Whether it's a free hub acting as bait, or one someone has broken into, Wi-Fi hubs are a perfect place to subvert
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Utah.LEG Anyone?

Thu Jun 26 16:43:00 2008

When I proposed (PDF) that the State of Utah move from the state.ut.us domain they'd been using to the more easily branded utah.gov, Al Mansel, the President of the Utah Senate asked me why he couldn't have utah.leg since "gov" meant governor (don't ask). Now, he can. Opening up TLDs and allowing other than ASCII characters is, as they say, a huge step. I hope it's not one into the abyss.
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Goodbye Al Mansell

Thu Jul 13 21:50:00 2006

Al Mansell Al Mansell is retiring from the Utah Senate. He was president of the Senate when I was CIO. My most memorable experience of Sen. Mansell is when I was moving all domains from state.ut.us to utah.gov. Al was very upset about the move, so I went to talk to him about it. I asked why he didn't want to use utah.gov and he replied that .gov meant governor and he wanted to use utah.le for legislature. As techies we may laugh, but to someone outside the voodoo of DNS, that seems like a perfectly reasonable request. Why can't
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