Trouble with DNS

Overview

The Domain Name System (DNS) provides a critical service to the Internet--the mapping between names and addresses. DNS also is crucial to the delivery of email. Without DNS, the Internet in its present form might never have existed. And yet, DNS suffers from serious security problems. Many UNIX systems today are running versions of BIND 8.2, the Berkeley Internet Name Daemon, that support the security extensions. But the extensions are rarely used, as they add unwelcome additional complexity to already obscure DNS records, and require a hierarchy of signing authorities (similar but not that same as a PKI) that does not yet exist. While the security extensions will make the Internet a much safer place for e-commerce, it is in use today.