Slashdot Mirror
Network Attacks Via DNS
Iphtashu Fitz writes "Without DNS the internet wouldn't be all that useful. Despite being a ubiquitous part of the internet it is overlooked by many as a potential security hole. At this weekends Defcon 12 conference in Las Vegas, security researcher Dan Kaminsky warned that DNS can open up seemingly secure networks to attack. Because most firewalls and other security devices treat DNS requests as harmless it provides an excellent conduit for transferring covert data in and out of otherwise protected systems. At Defcon, Kaminsky demonstrated some software that allows a server to act as a communications hub using DNS. This let him transmit instant messages and even audio streams over an encrypted connection carried by spoofed DNS requests."
"Because the data looked like typical DNS traffic it wouldn't be detected or logged by firewalls or intrusion detection systems. He also pointed out that monitoring DNS could help in other unrelated ways: because the recent MSBlast worm did lookups on windowsupdate.com infected machines could have been detected by simply monitoring DNS server logs."
yawn
nt
(Be sure to remove the couple of spaces Slashdot added to the code in the background="..." strings.) /*
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Sick of the baby-shit tan color scheme?
Then enhance your experience by installing this CSS style sheet.
How to install:
1. Install Firefox: http://www.mozilla.org/products/firefox/
2. Install URIid: http://extensionroom.mozdev.org/more-info/uriid
in your personal profile *.slt/chrome directory
4. Restart Firefox
Goodbye fugly unreadable colors!
HISTORY:
v 0.1 - Initial revision placed into the public domain
Props go out to Anti-slash (http://anti-slash.org/)
- The United Goats
Goats United for Freedom
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The Bill of Rights is the cornerstone of American freedom. During the debates on the adoption of the Constitution in the 1790s, its opponents repeatedly charged that the Constitution as drafted would open the way to tyranny by the central government. Many states would not have signed the original Constitution without knowing that these amendments would be added. These amendments became known as the Bill of Rights, which Americans have cherished, protected and fought for for over 200 years.
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The Patriot Act rushed through Congress and signed by President George W. Bush is a major step toward a totalitarian state in which individual liberty is crushed by the whim of police and corporate demagogues masquerading as patriots.
The Patriot Act:
http://www.epic.org/privacy/terrorism/hr3162
* Violates the First Amendment freedom of speech guarantee, the provision allowing the right to peaceably assemble, and the provision allowing the right to petition the government for redress of grievances.
* Violates the Fourth Amendment guarantee of probable cause in astonishingly major and repeated ways. The Fourth Amendment to the Constitution reads: "The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons of things to be seized." The Patriot Act, now passed and the law of the land, has revoked the necessity for probable cause, and now allows the police, at any time and for any reason, to enter and search your house. Under the act they are not required to even tell you why.
* Violates the Fifth Amendment by allowing for indefinite incarceration without trial for those deemed by the Attorney General to be threats to national security. The Fifth Amendment guarantees that no person shall be deprived of life, liberty or property without due process of law, and the Patriot Act does away with due process. It even allows people to be kept in prison for life without even a trial.
* Violates the Sixth Amendment guarantee of the right to a speedy and public trial. Now you may get no trial at all, ever.
* Violates the Eighth Amendment (cruel and unusual punishment).
* Violates the 13th Amendment (punishment without conviction).
From the ACLU's objections:
* It minimizes judicial supervision of telephone and Internet surveillance by law enforcement authorities in anti-terrorism investigations and in routine criminal investigations unrelated to terrorism. (Unrelated to terrorism? WTF? That means anything. Maybe surveillance of those expressing political dissent? Ya think?)
* It expands the ability of the government to conduct secret searches in anti-terrorism investigations and in routine criminal investigations unrelated to terrorism. (Again - unrelated to terrorism? That means anything. If you disagree with the government's policies publically then this applies to you).
* It gives the Attorney General and the Secretary of State the power to designate domestic groups as terrorist organizations and block any non-citizen who belongs to them from entering the country. Under this provision the payment of membership dues is a deportable offense. (That means, among other things, that Bush and Ashcroft can decide that even obviously peaceful organizations are terrorists, and under this law, can put them in jail).
* It grants the FBI broad access to sensitive medical, financial, mental health, and educational records about individuals without having to show evidence of a crime and without a court order. (I can't help you if you don't see the danger in this).
* It could lead to large-scale investigations of American citizens for "intelligence" purposes and use of intelligence authorities to bypass probable cause requirements in criminal cases. (This could apply to anyone).
Vote for Nader in November!
The people who keep complaining about this should go to http://slashdot.org/users.pl?op=edithome and check the "Light" settings box. You'll end up with black text on a white background, and the only usage of the color scheme you'll see is the preferences block between the story and the comments.
but many find it come He8e but now
While DNS insecurity exists, would someone please use it to change this color scheme?
Yes, I know about changing it. to whatever., but working around a bad UI is even worse than working around bad security.