Dot-Name Becomes Cybercrime Haven

["Paul Ferguson" <fergdawg () netzero net>]

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
Hash: SHA1

Via Wired.

[snip]

The company that controls the .name registry is charging for access to
domain registration information, a step that security researchers say
frustrates their ability to police the internet and creates a haven for
hackers who run internet scams.

When security researchers investigate spam and phishing activity on the
internet, they rely on special Whois directories, which list the owner of a
domain name, their hosting service and their contact information.

They can use the information to track down who is responsible for a
particular scam and to notify innocent webmasters if a portion of their
site has been hijacked by black-hat hackers.

ICANN, which sets the rules for the internet's top-level domain names such
as .com and .net, has traditionally required registrars to make Whois data
publicly searchable as a condition of the companies' right to sell domain
names.

But Global Name Registry, or GNR, which administers domain names ending in
.name (that are intended for use by individuals e.g., johndoe.name), won
the right to create tiered levels of Whois access, where public searches
show very little information beyond what registrar sold the name and what
name servers the site uses.

[snip]

More:
http://www.wired.com/politics/security/news/2007/09/dot_name

- - ferg

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-----
Version: PGP Desktop 9.6.3 (Build 3017)

wj8DBQFG/UXVq1pz9mNUZTMRAtR+AJ0RYRxSa1DHatcl64CsGd/b+WP5KQCgiarV
UYMA3kNDoyCrl+wxyIvrH4M=
=MCqs
-----END PGP SIGNATURE-----


--
"Fergie", a.k.a. Paul Ferguson
 Engineering Architecture for the Internet
 fergdawg(at)netzero.net
 ferg's tech blog: http://fergdawg.blogspot.com/


_______________________________________________
Fun and Misc security discussion for OT posts.
https://linuxbox.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/funsec
Note: funsec is a public and open mailing list.