Listeners, please note that this episode was recorded before the show’s name changed to Found in the Machine, so you’ll hear the old name in this episode.

Every time you type a web address, you're trusting a directory. A vast, invisible system that translates the names you know into the numbers that actually move data across the internet. You trust it the way a town trusts its well.

In 2008, a security researcher named Dan Kaminsky discovered that the well had no lid.

In this episode

• DNS - the Domain Name System and why it matters
• Dan Kaminsky - security researcher and internet advocate
• Cache poisoning - the class of attack Dan found hiding in the internet's foundation
• The patch - a secret meeting, a deadline, and a synchronized fix

Episode Music

• James Opie / Nihilore, CC BY 4.0
  • "Closest Strangers"
  • "Single Lane Tunnel"
  • "The Dweller on the Threshold"
  • "A Different World by Night"

Additional Reading

Choi, S. G. (n.d.). Remote DNS attacks and DNS defenses [Lecture notes, IT432 Advanced Computer and Network Security]. U.S. Naval Academy. https://www.usna.edu/Users/cs/choi/it432/lec/l07/lec.html

Vixie, P. (2008, July 14). Not a guessing game. CircleID. https://circleid.com/posts/87143_dns_not_a_guessing_game/

Internet Hall of Fame. (2022, March 23). A dedicated approach to Internet security: Daniel Kaminsky. https://www.internethalloffame.org/2022/03/23/dedicated-approach-internet-security-daniel-kaminsky/

Kaminsky, D. (2008). Black Ops 2008: It's the end of the cache as we know it [Conference presentation, DEF CON 16]. Video: https://media.blackhat.com/bh-usa-08/video/bh-us-08-Kaminsky/black-hat-usa-08-kaminsky-blackops08-hires.m4v (Note: this is Kaminsky's DEF CON Black Ops talk, not Black Hat)

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Found in the Machine is a narrative technology podcast about the forgotten history of computing, software, and the internet. Hosted by Daina Bouquin, each episode uncovers the true story behind a piece of computer history. These are the forgotten people, decisions, and accidents that quietly shaped the digital world.

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