DNSSEC, the new web security system which hopes to make the internet harder for hackers to attack, has been officially given the go ahead in the US – ushering in a new era of the internet.
Just two years ago the safety of the internet came under question when security consultant Dan Kaminsky found a fatal flaw in the internet's Domain Name System (DNS).
Although this was hastily patched up it got web honchos ICANN thinking fast on how to make the internet safer from attacks and DNSSEC (Domain Name System Security) was born.
At Black Hat USA 2010, this new system was shown, which adds root signatures to all things on the web.
This extra cushion of verification is something which should deter hackers from trying to spoof users into thinking that they are looking at a real website, when it is actually fake.
Root verification
Speaking at the Black Hat conference, Kaminsky said to V3 that: "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.
"This isn't something we're had the ability to do on a wide scale."
DNSSEC has already been rolled out to .org and .uk domains and the makers of the system are hoping that it will be adopted by all major domains, given the low cost of the system.
Just this week it was announced that the British CEO of CommunityDNS is one of only seven people in the world who holds a key to reboot the internet in the case of a terrorist attack.
This all came about because of the new security features found in DNSSEC.
Although DNSSEC is deemed to be a much safer alternative to DNS, Kaminsky admits the system isn't perfect.
Something we are betting the likes of 4Chan will be working on to prove right now.
Via V3
