Have just out of sheer bordom read a report by CAIDA INTERNET STATISTICS - Spectroscopy of DNS Update Traffic
*facinating* stuff (not) but this especially caught my eye!
oh dear Microsoft
"We have demonstrated that the majority of periodic up-
dates are caused by Windows 2000 and Windows XP. Prior
to the deployment of the AS112 authoritative servers for
RFC1918 address space (Spring 2002), Microsoft-based ma-
chines with private addresses tried to update the DNS root
servers, which can be compared to a massive DDoS attack.
We conclude that Microsoft must change the default con-
guration so that dynamic DNS updates are disabled and
user conguration, or lack thereof, does not enable RFC1918-
related traffic to propagate beyond the local subnet.
More generally we consider this study a compelling ex-
ample of why software and setups affecting stability of the
Internet's infrastructure must be designed with careful at-
tention to potential effects of engineering decisions. Indeed the current state of desktop software poses a burden on, if not threat to, the robustness of the global Internet."
Mmm!
*facinating* stuff (not) but this especially caught my eye!
oh dear Microsoft
"We have demonstrated that the majority of periodic up-
dates are caused by Windows 2000 and Windows XP. Prior
to the deployment of the AS112 authoritative servers for
RFC1918 address space (Spring 2002), Microsoft-based ma-
chines with private addresses tried to update the DNS root
servers, which can be compared to a massive DDoS attack.
We conclude that Microsoft must change the default con-
guration so that dynamic DNS updates are disabled and
user conguration, or lack thereof, does not enable RFC1918-
related traffic to propagate beyond the local subnet.
More generally we consider this study a compelling ex-
ample of why software and setups affecting stability of the
Internet's infrastructure must be designed with careful at-
tention to potential effects of engineering decisions. Indeed the current state of desktop software poses a burden on, if not threat to, the robustness of the global Internet."
Mmm!
