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Researchers Probe Dark and Murky Net

umm qasr writes: "Security Focus has an interesting article on blocks of internet space that are hidden from most users, it is based on a survey by Arbor Networks. The most common 'invisible sites' being .mil, which seems is unintentional. The survey suggests others, which seem more sinister...using unused netblock addresses to send spam. It's a bit short on the details but interesting none the less."

5 of 128 comments (clear)

  1. Dark address space? by gabriel_aristos · · Score: 5, Funny

    So.. Does this mean that if they find enough "dark address space", the Internet will eventually stop growing, and someday, billions of years from now collapse back in upon itself to start the cycle all over again?

    -j

    --
    Torg, come out of the spaceship. Nothing can stop Torg.
    1. Re:Dark address space? by G-funk · · Score: 3, Funny

      Worse though is when dark address space and normal address space collide, releasing a ddos beyond compare to all hosts within 15 hops....

      =)

      --
      Send lawyers, guns, and money!
  2. Again? Yawn... by O2n · · Score: 4, Funny

    From the article:

    Because routers don't normally log such activity, murky address space could hide the full range of antisocial or illegal network behavior, says Labovitz.

    Oh no, here we go again. Just because it's about the internet and contains a lot of words that are a little bit different to what "normal" people use daily - like "router", "hosts" and "routable address space" - it doesn't mean it's something dangerous. Not even new.

    Can you imagine someone getting funds to look into the origins of "paper spam"? "Oh no, the spammers are using bogus return addresses!" "Bad guys can communicate pretty safe and unhindered by putting their messages in envelopes, stamping them and sendim them by mail!"

    I can understand that the guys had to show something for 3 years worth of "research", but unless the securityfocus article is a very-very short, abridged version for the masses, they have no results.

  3. Re:Invisible web? by richie2000 · · Score: 3, Funny
    In any case, has anybody seen one of those "dark" addresses sometime?

    If you could see one, it wouldn't be dark. And if you did see one, They would have to kill you.

    I think this is just another .mil conspiracy - those sites and addresses aren't just parts of badly managed webspace - they are websites of black ops, dark projects, stealth planes and hidden agendas. An intranet for the Anti-Illuminati - the Shadows. :-)

    --
    Money for nothing, pix for free
  4. Re:Not to mention... by pomakis · · Score: 3, Funny
    A couple of years ago I was in a Radio Shack in the Boston area. They wouldn't let me purchase my item (a $2 adaptor) until I gave them my mailing address. When they asked me what state I live in, I said that I live in the province of Ontario. They asked what the two-letter abbreviation for that was, and I said "ON". Their computer wouldn't accept that, saying "invalid state". So they just entered "CA" (for Canada) as the state. They then asked me what my zip code was, and I told them that my postal code was "K1N 1B7". They said that their computers didn't accept letters, only numbers. So I said "argh! Okay, try '12345'!". They tried, and the computer complained that the zip code didn't match the entered state (California). So I then gave them the only California zip code I know by heart - 90210. Thus, Radio Shack now thinks I live in Beverly Hills.