ACM TechNews

Attack Code Released for New DNS Attack

New York Times (07/24/08) McMillan, Robert

Developers of the Metasploit hacking toolkit have released an attack code that exploits a recently disclosed flaw in the Domain Name System. Internet security experts warn that this code could be used to launch virtually undetectable phishing attacks against Internet users whose service providers have not installed the latest DNS server patches. The bug could be used to redirect users to fake software update services to install malicious software on their computers through a technique called cache poisoning. The bug was first disclosed by IOActive researcher Dan Kaminsky in early July, but technical details of the flaw were recently leaked, allowing for hackers to create the attack code. Kaminsky had worked with major DNS software providers like Microsoft, Cisco, and the Internet Systems Consortium for several months to create a patch for the problem before the flaw was known to the public. Corporate users and Internet service providers who are major users of DNS servers have had since July 8 to patch the flaw, but many have not finished installing the patch on all DNS servers. ISC president Paul Vixie says that most people have not patched yet and that this flaw is a "gigantic problem for the world."

http://www.nytimes.com/idg/IDG_852573C4006938800025748F007863C4.html

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