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SAN FRANCISCO (AFP) – Key elements of the Internet infrastructure are facing large-scale attacks that threaten the global system of web traffic, warned the guardian of the Internet address Friday (22 February).
The Internet Corporation for Names and Assigned Numbers (Icann) has declared after an emergency meeting "a permanent and significant risk" for key elements of the infrastructure affecting the areas in which the websites reside.
"They are attacking the Internet infrastructure itself," David Conrad, head of technology at Icann, told AFP.
"There have been targeted attacks in the past, but nothing like that."
The attacks could go back to 2017, but raise more and more concerns among security researchers in recent weeks, which motivated the special meeting of Icann.
The malicious activity targets the domain name system or the DNS that routes the traffic to the intended online destinations.
Icann and others say that these attacks can potentially spy on data en route, smuggle traffic elsewhere or allow attackers to impersonate critical websites.
"There is not a single tool to solve this problem," Conrad said, as Icann called for a general hardening of canvas defenses.
US authorities issued a similar warning last month about DNS attacks.
"It's about the same as a person who is lying at the post office about your address, checking your mail, and then delivering it directly to your mailbox," the US Department of Homeland Security said in an alert. to cybersecurity.
"A lot of bad things could be inflicted on you (or senders) depending on the content of this mail." .
MIDDLE EAST TARGETS
The so-called "DNSpionage" attacks could go back at least to 2017, according to the FireEye senior director, responsible for the badysis of cyber espionage, Ben Read.
The list of targets included registrars and ISPs, particularly in the Middle East.
"We've mainly seen a targeting of email names and pbadwords," said Mr. Read.
"There is evidence that this comes out of Iran and is made to support Iran."
DNSpionage hackers appeared to want to steal account credentials, such as e-mail pbadwords, from Lebanon and the United Arab Emirates, according to Adam Meyers, vice president of intelligence at cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike.
Similar attacks have occurred in Europe and other parts of the Middle East, targeting governments, intelligence services, police, airlines and the oil industry, experts said. cybersecurity.
"You absolutely have to know how the Internet works and handle a lot of traffic for you," Meyers said of DNSpionage hackers.
"With this access, they could temporarily interrupt some parts of the Internet. They chose to intercept and spy on people."
The attack itself is technically simple, but its reach and targeting of Internet service providers as well as large government entities have made it "a big problem," according to Meyers.
DIGITAL SIGNATURES
Icann has sent a message to the website and to online traffic managers to increase security or leave users susceptible to being trapped by trusting bad online sites.
The organization has advocated a broader implementation of DNSSEC technology, which adds digital signatures that act as virtual seals to expose when data moved online have been falsified.
DNSSEC can also prevent Internet users from being misdirected from the intended websites, according to Icann.
"It aims to ensure that Internet users reach the desired online destination by helping to prevent" man-in-the-middle "type attacks when a user is unwittingly redirected to a potentially malicious site," Icann said in a statement. .
According to Conrad, one of the challenges in ensuring the security of the Internet infrastructure is that website owners do not always understand the imperative of protecting themselves from malicious hackers.
"We want to make sure people understand what it means to own a domain name and put it on the Internet," Conrad said.
"Because all your customers are as secure as you are."
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