IEDR Deploy DNSSEC for .IE

DNSSEC provides data origin authentication and data integrity verification to the global domain name system through the use of public key cryptographic signatures. It prevents many potential attack vectors via the unsecured DNS.
This deployment is the culmination of research and development starting in 2010, designing and building the IEDR DNSSEC infrastructure in 2011 and today the deployment of the first signed IE zone. The addition of DNSSEC for .ie domain users means many other security protocols such as DANE can be used by .ie domain users.
Commenting on the deployment, the IEDR DNSSEC Programme Manager, Billy Glynn said “we’re delighted to have pushed out our first DNSSEC signed zone. We’ve been signing the IE zone in parallel systems for over two years now and we feel this is a good time to deploy in production. This is an exciting initiative that will allow IE domain holders to leverage other security protocols such as DANE and it’s variants which will add extra security to email and websites.”
IEDR would like to thank the Irish DNSSEC Task Force members for their patience and commitment to DNSSEC in Ireland. For additional information on DNSSEC click here and to join Ireland’s DNSSEC Task-force membership please email
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
.
This IEDR announcement was sourced from:
https://www.iedr.ie/2014/11/iedr-deploy-dnssec-ie/
Global Raids Targeting Dark Web Sees Over 400 Domains Seized, 17 Arrests
Over 400 domain names used by websites known as the “dark web”, which can’t be found via search engines or typing in the domain name, have been seized in raids across Europe and the United States. The websites are known to sell drugs, guns and hitmen.
The domains were seized by law enforcement agencies in 16 European countries and the US in an operation coordinated in The Hague to conduct the operation from Europol’s Joint Cybercrime Action Taskforce operations room as part of an operation that has so far taken six months.
The biggest target in the operation was Silk Road 2.0, but another 413 illicit services based on the Tor network were closed too, Troels Oerting, head of the European Cyber Crime Centre (EC3), told the Guardian.
“Cloud Nine, Hydra, BlueSky, Outlaw Market and Alpaca are some of the other names on the police hitlist that are out of action,” according to the Guardian.
Operation Onymous as the operation was code-named was coordinated by Europol’s European Cybercrime Centre (EC3), the FBI, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE), Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and Eurojust. It resulted in 17 arrests of vendors and administrators running these online marketplaces and more than 410 hidden services being taken down. In addition, bitcoins worth approximately US$1 million, €180 000 in cash, drugs, gold and silver were seized. The dark market Silk Road 2.0 was taken down by the FBI and the U.S. ICE HIS, and the operator was arrested.
How the law enforcement agencies were able to locate and penetrate the networks is unknown at this stage. According to a report in Wired, “in its criminal complaint against Benthall, for instance, FBI agent Vincent D’Agostini writes merely that in May of 2014 the FBI ‘identified a server located in a foreign country believed to be hosting the Silk Road 2.0 website at the time,’ without explaining how it bypassed Tor’s protections. The sheer number of Tor-hosted sites affected by the takedown raises questions about whether law enforcement officials may have found new vulnerabilities in Tor’s well-tested anonymity shield.”
“The sites typically operated on the Tor network, which is designed to conceal the I.P. addresses of the computers being used,” according to another report, this one in the New York Times.
“Today we have demonstrated that, together, we are able to efficiently remove vital criminal infrastructures that are supporting serious organised crime. And we are not ‘just’ removing these services from the open Internet; this time we have also hit services on the Darknet using Tor where, for a long time, criminals have considered themselves beyond reach. We can now show that they are neither invisible nor untouchable. The criminals can run but they can’t hide. And our work continues….”, says Troels Oerting, Head of EC3.
“Our efforts have disrupted a website that allows illicit black-market activities to evolve and expand, and provides a safe haven for illegal vices, such as weapons distribution, drug trafficking and murder-for-hire,” says Kumar Kibble, regional attaché for HSI in Germany. “HSI will continue to work in partnership with Europol and its law enforcement partners around the world to hold criminals who use anonymous Internet software for illegal activities accountable for their actions.”
“Working closely with domestic and international law enforcement, the FBI and our partners have taken action to disrupt several websites dedicated to the buying and selling of illegal drugs and other unlawful goods. Combating cyber criminals remains a top priority for the FBI, and we continue to aggressively investigate, disrupt, and dismantle illicit networks that pose a threat in cyberspace”, says Robert Anderson, FBI Executive Assistant Director of the of the Criminal, Cyber, Response and Services Branch.
Tor is an acronym for The Onion Router, a free network designed to anonymise real Internet Protocol (IP) address by routing traffic through many servers of the Tor network. Tor is used by a variety of people for both illicit and licit purposes, a fact that has also been acknowledged in the complaint against Ross William Ulbricht, accused of being the main administrator of the original Silk Road.
October 2014 Highest Reported .COM Domain Name Sales
Athlon.com was the highest selling .COM domain name in October 2014. The domain name changed hands for $100,000 via Sedo.
Here are the highest selling .COM domain names in October 2014:
1. Athlon.com $100,000
2. LOV.com $91,800
3. RSR.com $75,000
4. 907.com $68,580
5. GoldPay.com $64,000
6. Sponsored.com $50,200
7. StripChat.com $50,000
8.tie LowCarb.com $45,000
8.tie Pager.com $45,000
10. FreeVideos.com $42,500
11. TotalWireless.com $40,000
12. Fixed.com $40,000
13. OAI.com $39,999
14. IDAI.com $31,500
15.tie LQZ.com $30,000
15.tie VeryExclusive.com $30,000
17. NUS.com $28,900
18. RealReviews.com $25,000
18. Gartenmöbel.com (IDN) $25,000
20. L2O.com $24,000
ICANN :Requirements for Implementing Rights Protection Mechanisms in Name Collision Mitigation Framework Now Available
Following a 90-day public consultation period, ICANN is implementing a solution to allow new gTLD registries to release names from their Second-level Domain (SLD) Block Lists while complying with all Rights Protection Mechanism requirements.
ICANN will provide affected registries with an addendum to their Name Collision Occurrence Assessments that explains how to release blocked names, by 14 November 2014.
To release these names, the approach requires registry operators to implement an “exclusive registration period” that meets the criteria described in its “Assessment Addendum,” limited to the following category of names:
Included on the Second-level Domain Block List provided in the registry operator’s Alternate Path to Delegation Report.
Recorded in the Trademark Clearinghouse.
Withheld from allocation by a registry operator during its Sunrise Period or Claims Period.
Registry operators can choose one of two paths for conducting an exclusive registration period:
Option A – ICANN Selected Exclusive Registration Dates
Registry Operator may opt into one of two exclusive registration periods published by ICANN by providing a minimum of ten (10) days notice to ICANN of its decision to do so, followed by at least thirty (30) days of an exclusive registration period. The start dates for each exclusive registration period will be publicized to enhance awareness among eligible rights holders. ICANN strongly encourages this option to streamline communications and expedite the process for release of names from the SLD Block List.
For Option A, Exclusive Registration Period timeframes are as follows:
Exclusive Registration Period 1: 10 December 2014 – 9 January 2015. Registries may opt in by 30 November 2014.
Exclusive Registration Period 2: 16 January 2015 – 15 February 2015. Registries may opt in by 6 January 2015.
Option B – Registry Operator Selected Exclusive Registration Dates
Registries not opting for Option A may provide an exclusive registration period under the same requirements as the registry’s original Sunrise Period:
Providing a minimum of thirty (30) days notice of the exclusive registration period followed by a start-date (at least 30 days) exclusive registration; or
Providing an end-date (60 days) exclusive registration period, provided that first-come-first-served is not used as the allocation mechanism.
All registry operators must submit their exclusive registration period information to ICANN via the GDD Portal.
The 90-day consultation was specified in measure II, Section C of the Name Collision Occurrence Assessment and a resolution of the New gTLD Program Committee of the ICANN Board.
Resources:
Name Collision Occurrence Framework [PDF, 634 KB]
Information regarding the requirements a registry must implement as part of this Name Collision Occurrence Assessment
Name Collision Session at ICANN51
A presentation about the relationship between the Name Collision Mitigation Framework and Rights Protections Mechanisms. Includes Q&A with the ICANN community.
Name Collision Resources & Information page
A central hub for all things name collision. Includes information for system operators, registry operators and the general public.
Public Comment Forum
Public comments received in response to discussion paper on implementing rights protection mechanisms (RPMs) in the Name Collision Occurrence Framework.
This announcement was sourced from :
https://www.icann.org/news/announcement-2-2014-11-07-en
October 2014 Highest Reported Domain Name Sales
Athlon.com was the highest selling domain name in October 2014. The domain name changed hands for $100,000 via Sedo.
Here are the highest selling domain names in October 2014:
1. Athlon.com $100,000
2. LOV.com $91,800
3.tie RSR.com $75,000
3.tie Coin.org $75,000
5. 907.com $68,580
6. GoldPay.com $64,000
7. Sponsored.com $50,200
8. StripChat.com $50,000
9.tie LowCarb.com $45,000
9.tie Pager.com $45,000
11. FreeVideos.com $42,500
12. TotalWireless.com $40,000
13. Fixed.com $40,000
14. OAI.com $39,999
15. ShopTheHood.ca $35,200
16. IDAI.com $31,500
17. Angel.in $30,000
18.tie LQZ.com $30,000
18.tie VeryExclusive.com $30,000
20. NUS.com $28,900