• Dan Kaminsky is a researcher whose work focuses on computer security. He has worked for several major companies, including Cisco and Avaya.

  In July 2008, it was announced that Kaminsky had discovered a fundamental flaw in the way DNS, the system that acts as the "phone book" of the internet, operates. The flaw allowed hackers to redirect browsers to fake webpages. A patch was released on July 8, 2008, to fix the vulnerability.BBC News: Fix found for net security flaw (July 9, 2008)

• Fast Facts

  1. Currently works for IOActive
  2. Has also worked for Cisco and Avaya
  3. July 2008: Discovered fundamental flaw in DNS
  4. Worked with several major networking companies to develop a solution
  5. Patch released on July 8, 2008, too fix vulnerabilites

• DNS Vulnerability

  DNS, or the Domain Name System, is often called the "phone book" of the internet. It translates machine-readable IP addresses into human-readable domain names, like www.mahalo.com, in the same way the phone book assigns a seven-digit number to a person's name.

  The vulnerability Kaminsky discovered allowed hackers to redirect a browser to a different website even if the correct domain name was entered.BBC News: Fix found for net security flaw (July 9, 2008)

• Related Mahalo Pages

  Internet | DNS | Security | Hackers

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