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DHS Wants Master Key for DNS

Posted by Zonk on from the they-own-all-the-locks-and-doors dept.

An anonymous reader writes "At an ICANN meeting in Lisbon, the US Department of Homeland Security made it clear that it has requested the master key for the DNS root zone. The key will play an important role in the new DNSSec security extension, because it will make spoofing IP-addresses impossible. By forcing the IANA to hand out a copy of the master key, the US government will be the only institution that is able to spoof IP addresses and be able to break into computers connected to the Internet without much effort. There's a further complication, of course, because even 'if the IANA retains the key ... the US government still reserves the right to oversee ICANN/IANA. If the keys are then handed over to ICANN/IANA, there would be even less of an incentive [for the U.S.] to give up this role as a monitor. As a result, the DHS's demands will probably only heat up the debate about US dominance of the control of Internet resources.'"

4 of 266 comments (clear)

  1. The crucial signing key is for Windows Update by Animats · · Score: 5, Insightful

    The truly powerful signing key is for Windows Update. If you have that key, you can take over every Microsoft computer in the world . Change the operating system. Install anything, including a new key. Reboot the machine.

    Who has that key? Do we know?

    Whoever has both the DNS root key and the Windows Update signing key rules the Internet. Or at least all the Microsoft client systems. They can redirect Windows Update requests to themselves, then download their own update and have it accepted.

    Unfortunately, this isn't a joke.

  2. Re:DNSSec by jovetoo · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I hope you can understand that no-one else in the world shares even your minimal believe in the US government?

  3. Re:Incentive for alternative roots by Seumas · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I still have yet to understand what fear they have of internet terrorism. When was the last time terrorists killed someone over the internet?! This sounds more like the supposedly disbanded TIA working under the guise of DHS.

    By the way, how scary is it that DHS used to be the commonly used acronym associated with "Department of Human Services". And now this...

    Good to know that DHS can put its hands in ANYTHING regardless of nature as long as they claim it has some association in some minor (or even non-existent but hypothetical) way.

  4. Re:Incentive for alternative roots by ady1 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    It isn't about terrorism at all. It is about control and about policing the rest of the world.

    I hope they do that and piss off rest of the world so that they form an independent organization for such matters.