All,
See
below.
Cheers,
Chris
Disspain
CEO
- auDA
au
Domain Administration Ltd
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ICANN president criticized for remarks on DNS
security
By Rebecca Wanjiku
http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9169638/ICANN_president_criticized_for_remarks_on_DNS_security?taxonomyId=11
Computerworld Kenya
NAIROBI, Kenya -- The country code subgroup of the Internet Corporation for
Assigned Names and Numbers has criticized ICANN President and CEO Rod Beckstrom
for "inflammatory" comments that the domain name system is not as
secure as it used to be.
While speaking at the Government Advisory Committee meeting on Tuesday,
Beckstrom said more concerted efforts are needed to protect the DNS because it
is under more attacks, is fragile and vulnerable, and "can stop any
time."
In the session with the GAC and board members, Beckstrom addressed DNS abuse
cases by some unspecified countries and promised to write to GAC members for
more information and advice on DNS in their countries.
"The domain name system is under attack today as it has never been before.
I have personally consulted with over 20 CEOs of the top registries and the top
registrars globally, all of whom are seeing increasing attacks and complexity
of attacks and who are extremely concerned," Beckstrom said.
Chris Disspain, chairman of the Country Code Name Supporting Organization
(ccNSO) council, took issue with the statement to the GAC, terming it
"inflammatory" and capable of rolling back the gains made by ccTLD
managers and government officials in relation to DNS security.
"Your inflammatory comments to governmental representatives regarding --
in your view -- the precarious state of the security of the DNS, have the
potential to undermine the effective and productive relationships established
under ICANN's multi-stakeholder model," said Disspain. "This could
cause great concern among governments regarding how elements of critical
Internet resources are operated and managed in their countries."
The ccNSO council also expressed concern with Beckstrom's plan to write to
governments on whether the DNS is able to withstand attacks, saying that such a
process is likely to compromise the way ccTLD managers operate in their
countries.
Although Disspain admitted that Beckstrom has a responsibility to address those
issues, he added that Beckstrom's statement discounted huge efforts made by the
ICANN community to ensure DNS security and stability.
"We suggest that ICANN work with all relevant internal and external
stakeholders to develop a clear analysis of the current mechanisms in place to
ensure the ongoing security of the DNS. As a first step, we urge you to share
with us and other stakeholders the underlying facts or studies that originally
led you to make your statements," Disspain said.