Black Hat: Internet gets biggest upgrade since world wide web

[nsane.forums]

Could cripple man in the middle attacks

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) has announced the biggest upgrade to the internet's infrastructure since the introduction of the world wide web.

Under the new system domains can certify themselves to make sure that a web page is from the provider stated, eliminating many popular attacks by hackers. Speaking to V3.co.uk Rod Beckstrom said that Vint Cert had called the new system the most important change in the internet since the development of the world web system by Sir Tim Berners-Lee

Beckstrom held a press conference at Black Hat 2010 with the hacker who broke the existing DNS system Dan Kaminsky to explain the change, called DNSSEC.

“What DNSSEC allows is that each party online can say not only am I sending you a mail but I can put a stamp on it so you can see it's real,” said Kaminsky.

“This isn't something we're had the ability to do on a wide scale.”

The new system has been integrated into the .org and .uk DNS systems already and the team hope that the low cost of entry and the security provided will mean a massive roll out of the new security system.

Such a system would cripple spoofers and man in the middle attacks currently used by hackers he said by eliminating the ability of hackers to create false identities.

The system isn't perfect Kaminsky said, but would raise the bar for hackers seeking to exploit the system.

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