Dan York

Just a guy in Vermont trying to connect all the dots...

Author's posts

Call For Participation – Submit Your Idea For The ICANN 49 DNSSEC Workshop In Singapore

ICANN 49 LogoDo you have an idea for a great presentation you’d like to give around DNSSEC?  Perhaps a demonstration of a new tool or service?  Or new DNSSEC statistics or measurements?  Or a new application that works with the DANE protocol?

If you’re going to go the ICANN 49 meeting in Singapore in March 2014, there will be another DNSSEC Workshop happening on Wednesday, March 2014 and the program committee is actively looking for proposals for presentations.  We’d particularly be interested in including some demonstrations this time now that DNSSEC and DANE are getting more widely deployed.

The full Call for Participation is included below.  If you have an idea, please email a couple of sentences about your idea to dnssec-singapore@shinkuro.com.


Call for Participation — ICANN DNSSEC Workshop 26 March 2014

DON’T READ THIS MESSAGE!  We know it’s the holiday season and many of you will ignore this message completely, so we’ll be sure to send another message in early January – but  for those of you who might have some time over the holidays to think about ideas for a presentation related to DNSSEC, please read on…

The DNSSEC Deployment Initiative and the Internet Society Deploy360 Programme, in cooperation with the ICANN Security and Stability Advisory Committee (SSAC), are planning a DNSSEC Workshop at the ICANN meeting in Singapore on 26 March 2014.  The DNSSEC Workshop has been a part of ICANN meetings for several years and has provided a forum for both experienced and new people to meet, present and discuss current and future DNSSEC deployments.  For reference, the most recent session was held at the ICANN meeting in Buenos Aires, Argentina on 20 November 2013. The presentations and transcripts are available at: http://buenosaires48.icann.org/en/schedule/wed-dnssec.

We are seeking presentations on the following topics:

1.  DNSSEC Activities in the Asia Pacific region:

For this panel we are seeking participation from those who have been involved in DNSSEC deployment in the Asia Pacific region and also from those who have not deployed DNSSEC but who have a keen interest in the challenges and benefits of deployment.  In particular, we will consider the following questions:  What can DNSSEC do for you? What doesn’t it do?  What are the internal tradeoffs to implementing DNSSEC?

2. The Operational Realities of Running DNSSEC

Now that DNSSEC has become an operational norm for many registries, registrars, and ISPs, what have we learned about how we manage DNSSEC? What is the best practice around key rollovers? How often do you review your disaster recovery procedures? Is there operational familiarity within your customer support teams? What operational statistics have we gathered about DNSSEC? Are there experiences being documented in the form of best practices, or something similar, for transfer of signed zones?

3.  Implementing DNSSEC Validation At Internet Service Providers (ISPs)

Internet Service Providers (ISPs) play a critical role by enabling DNSSEC validation for the caching DNS resolvers used by their customers.  We have now seen massive rollouts of DNSSEC validation within large North American ISPs and at ISPs around the world.  We are interested in presentations on topics such as:
* What does an ISP need to do to prepare its network for implementing DNSSEC validation?
* How does an ISP need to prepare its support staff and technical staff for the rollout of DNSSEC validation?
* What measurements are available about the degree of DNSSEC validation currently deployed?
* What tools are available to help an ISP deploy DNSSEC validation?
* What are the practical server-sizing impacts of enabling DNSSEC validation on ISP DNS Resolvers (ex. cost, memory, cpu, bandwidth, technical support, etc.)?

4.  DNSSEC and DANE In The Enterprise

Similar to ISPs, enterprises can play a critical role in both providing DNSSEC validation to their internal networks and also through signing of the enterprises’s own domains. We are seeking presentations from enterprises who have implemented DNSSEC on either or both validation and signing and can address questions such as:
* What are the benefits to enterprises of rolling out DNSSEC validation? And how do they do so?
* What are the challenges to deployment for these organizations and how could DANE and other DNSSEC applications address those challenges?
* How should an enterprise best prepare its IT staff and network to implement DNSSEC?
* What tools and systems are available to assist enterprises in the deployment of DNSSEC?
* How can the DANE protocol be used within an enterprise to bring a higher level of security to transactions using SSL/TLS certificates?

5.  DANE and DNSSEC Applications

The DNS-based Authentication of Named Entitites (DANE) protocol is an exciting development where DNSSEC can be used to provide a strong additional trust layer for traditional SSL/TLS certificates. There is strong interest for DANE usage within web transactions as well as for securing email and Voice-over-IP (VoIP). We are seeking presentations on topics such as:
* What are some of the new and innovative uses of DANE and other DNSSEC applications in new areas or industries?
* What tools and services are now available that can support DANE usage?
* How soon could DANE and other DNSSEC applications become a deployable reality?
* How can the industry used DANE and other DNSSEC applications as a mechanism for creating a more secure Internet?

We would be particularly interested in any live demonstrations of DNSSEC / DANE applications and services.  For example, a demonstration of the actual process of setting up a site with a certificate stored in a TLSA record that correctly validates would be welcome.  Demonstrations of new tools that make the setup of DNSSEC or DANE more automated would also be welcome.

6.  When Unexpected DNSSEC Events Occur

What have we learned from some of the operational outages that we have seen over the past 18 months? Are there lessons that we can pass on to those just about to implement DNSSEC? How do you manage dissemination of information about the outage? What have you learned about communications planning? Do you have a route to ISPs and registrars? How do you liaise with your CERT community?

7.  Preparing for Root Key Rollover

For this topic we are seeking input on issues relating to root key rollover.  In particular, we are seeking comments from vendors, ISPs, and the community that will be affected by distribution of new root keys.

8.  DNSSEC Automation

For DNSSEC to reach massive deployment levels it is clear that a higher level of automation is required than is currently available. Topics for which we would like to see presentations include:
* What tools, systems and services are available to help automate DNSSEC key management?
* Can you provide an analysis of current tools/services and identify gaps?
* Where in the various pieces that make up DNSSEC signing and validation are the best opportunities for automation?
* What are the costs and benefits of different approaches to automation?

9.  Guidance for Registrars in Supporting DNSSEC:

The 2013 Registrar Accreditation Agreement (RAA) for Registrars and Resellers requires the support of DNSSEC beginning on January 1, 2014. We are seeking presentations discussing:
* What are the specific technical requirements of the RAA and how can registrars meet those requirements?
* What tools and systems are available for registrars that include DNSSEC support?
* What information do registrars need to provide to resellers and ultimately customers?

We are particularly interested in hearing from registrars who have signed the 2013 RAA and have either already implemented DNSSEC support or have a plan for doing so.

10.  APIs Between the Registrars and DNS Hosting Operators

One specific area that has been identified as needing focus is the communication between registrars and DNS hosting operators, specifically when these functions are provided by different entities.  Right now the communication, such as the transfer of a DS record, occurs primarily by way of the domain name holder copying and pasting information from one web interface to another. How can this be automated?  We would welcome presentations  by either registrars or DNS hosting operators who have implemented APIs for the communication of DNSSEC information – or from people with ideas around how such APIs could be constructed.

In addition, we welcome suggestions for additional topics.

If you are interested in participating, please send a brief (1-2 sentence) description of your proposed presentation to dnssec-singapore@shinkuro.com by **Friday, 31 January 2014**

We hope that you can join us.

Thank you,

Julie Hedlund

On behalf of the DNSSEC Workshop Program Committee:
Steve Crocker, Shinkuro
Mark Elkins, DNS/ZACR
Cath Goulding, Nominet UK
Jean Robert Hountomey, AfricaCERT
Jacques Latour, .CA
Xiaodong Lee, CNNIC
Luciano Minuchin, NIC.AR
Russ Mundy, Sparta/Parsons
Ondřej Surý, CZ.NIC
Lance Wolak, .ORG, The Public Interest Registry
Yoshiro Yoneya, JPRS
Dan York, Internet Society

Working On Restoring VOIPSEC Mailing List Archive Functionality

We are unfortunately aware that the mail archives for the VOIPSEC mailing list have not been functioning for a long time.  The list still does have occasional active conversations on it and anyone is welcome to subscribe. However, the archive on the list page as well as on the VOIPSA site page for the list has been broken for a while now.  As part of our work updating the VOIPSA website I’ve been in touch with our hosting vendor to see about getting the archives back in action.  Stay tuned….

Two New Asterisk Security Vulnerabilities Related To SMS And AMI

Asterisk logoThe great folks at the Digium / Asterisk Security Team have issued two new security advisories that folks running Asterisk should pay attention to.  They are:

AST-2013-006: Buffer Overflow When Receiving Odd Length 16 bit SMS Message – If you have Asterisk set up to receive SMS messages, it seems that a 16-bit SMS message of a certain size can cause the Asterisk server to have a buffer overflow and the system to crash.  The fix is to upgrade to the latest version of Asterisk.  It sounds like the only attack method is via SMS and so if you are not connecting SMS to Asterisk it would seem this advisory would not apply to you.

AST-2013-007: Asterisk Manager User Dialplan Permission Escalation – The Asterisk Manager Interface (AMI) allows you to control the operation of your Asterisk server through external applications or other systems.  The Security Team notes that the AMI interface does allow for the execution of dialplan functions that can go beyond simply controlling Asterisk but can in fact issue shell commands to the underlying operating system.  The new versions of Asterisk now include a new option in asterisk.conf called, amusingly, “live_dangerously”, that can be set to “no” to forbid the execution of these extra functions.  They note that for backwards compatibility the default for this option is “yes” because there may be applications in use that rely on these shell functions.  It would seem prudent, though, to see if you can set this to “no” to provide the highest level of system security.

I am not currently running any Asterisk systems myself but it would seem to me that a basic “security 101″ level you should also be making sure that access to that AMI port on your Asterisk server is restricted to only the systems running any applications that need that access.

In any event, if you are an Asterisk user and haven’t upgraded to the latest version, these security alerts may be a good reason to do so!

A Trio Of IPv6 Posts From Mark Townsley Worth Reading

Mark TownsleyInterested in understanding more about what IPv6 is all about?  What to know the benefits of “IPv6-centric” networks?

Mark Townsley is a Cisco Fellow and someone very well-known to many of us in the IPv6 community through his writing, videos, and strong advocacy for making the move to IPv6.  Recently he’s been writing on Cisco’s “Internet of Everything” blog and three of his posts are well worth a read.

In his first post, “Demystifying IPv6“, Mark goes into the basics of why we need to care about IPv6, why it is important for what Cisco terms the “Internet of Everything” (that incorporates the regular Internet and also what many of us call the “Internet of Things”).  He also explains what happened to “IPv5″. :-)

Next, in “Moving to IPv6: Rebuilding the Heart of the Internet Without Missing a Beat“, Mark looks at some of the challenges of switching to a new underlying networking protocol and discusses a few of the transition technologies.

Finally, in his latest post, “IPv6-Centric Networking: Innovation Without Constraints“, Mark looks at the kind of innovation that is happening within mobile networks, homes, enterprise networks and data centers when you don’t have to worry about running out of address space.

All in all a great set of contributions to the ongoing discussions about IPv6 deployment!

Now, how can we help you get your network moved over to IPv6?

FIR #735 – 12/23/13 – For Immediate Release

Inside PR, Thought Leadership and Higher Education all debuting on FIR Podcast Network; Jill Rowley interview is up; Neville interviewed on AMP Up Your Social Media; Quick News: WhatsApp has 400 million users, New York Times outlines native advertising plans, Peugeot Citroen orders 10,000 BlackBerry handsets, #NotYourAsianSidekick is a top-trending hashtag; Ragan promo; News That Fits: Are upi ready for new social media sites that do just one thing well?, Dan York's Tech Report, beware the Twitter mob, Media Monitoring Minute from CustomScoop, listener comments, six business cases for real-time marketing, Michael Netzley's Asia Report, the survival of Brand Nigella and the power of PR in reputation management; music from Jann Klose; and more.

FIR #734 – 12/16/13 – For Immediate Release

Three interview and three book reviews coming; FIR Presents Thought Leadership with Mitchell and Michael debuting; FIR website to relaunch; Quick News: national libraries digitizing books, Internet of Things about to explode, bots account for most web traffic, marketing potential in Instagram Direct; Rasgan promo; News That Fits; rules for handing a public safety crisis, Michael Netzley's Asia Report, mobile recruitment, Media Monitoring Minute from CustomScoop, listener comments, Facebook's latest algorithm change, Dan York's Tech Report, WestJet's Christmas Micracle; music from Night's Bright Colors; and more.

Awesomeness! Jetpack 2.7 Lets WordPress Users Auto-Post Content To Google+

JetpackNow here is an awesome gift for the holidays! Any self-hosted WordPress users who use the JetPack plugin can now automatically publicize their posts out to a Google+ account... including to a Google+ page. This is all courtesy of the new Jetpack 2.7 release that happened yesterday.

For quite some time, users of Jetpack (and other similar WordPress plugins) have been able to auto-post out to Twitter and Facebook using the "Publicize" component of Jetpack, but posting to a Google+ page always required you to manually go to G+ to post the link. As a result, it was just yet-another-step that sometimes didn't happen. This was particularly true for scheduled posts that you might arrange to go out at particular times when staff were not available to post the link into Google+. (I've scheduled posts like this any number of times when I'm going to be spending a day traveling on planes.)

This changes with Jetpack 2.7 and puts Google+ on equal footing with other services. Now when you configure "Publicize" within Jetpack you see this screen (shown on my Monadnock Curling Club web site):

Publicize settings 2

You then are asked how you want to connect to Google+ for this WordPress site. You can either connect to your own G+ account or to any of the Google+ Pages for which you are a manager:

Google Accounts

You next must approve the permissions and indicate who you want to see your posts:

Gplus permissions 2

One final step is to approve whether you want all users of the blog to be able to publicize the post through this Google+ connection:

Sharing Settings Monadnock Curling Club WordPress 3

That's it!

Now all your future posts will be publicized through Google+! I'd note that you do have the option to control on a per-post basis what services your content is auto-posted to. When you are in a post you can see right in the "Publish" box an area for "Publicize" and by clicking on an "Edit" link you can have control over what services get the post automatically and what the message will be:

Add New Post Monadnock Curling Club WordPress

In a very nice feature I found that you can click "Add New" and go through the process again to connect additional Google+ pages or accounts. Here I've configured posts to this blog to go not only to the Monadnock Curling Club page but also to my personal Google+ account:

Sharing Settings Monadnock Curling Club WordPress 6

All in all a very cool addition to Jetpack! Well worth the upgrade to 2.7 (or the installation of Jetpack if you're not using it yet). Looking forward to now being able to more regularly get my content into Google+.


If you found this post interesting or useful, please consider either:


Video: An introduction to curling by David Murdoch

The folks at World Curling TV published this good “into to curling” tutorial from Scotland’s David Murdoch that explains the basics of curling:

Would you like to see the sport of curling brought to southwestern NH? If so, please help us get the word out and let us know you are interested!

First Geographic NewgTLD, .RUHR, Now Delegated (Featured Blog)

Each week ICANN has been delegating more new generic top-level domains (newgTLDs) and it's been somewhat entertaining to watch the list of delegated strings to see what new TLDs will enter the domain name space starting sometime in early 2014 when they become generally available for people to register new domains under. More...

First Geographic NewgTLD, .RUHR, Now Delegated (Featured Blog)

More...