RFC 2142 (was Re: Suggestion: Add contact entry to whois)

Michael Dillon michael at memra.com
Fri Feb 26 23:45:48 UTC 1999


On Fri, 26 Feb 1999, Dan Hollis wrote:

> > 	http://www.geektools.com/rfc/rfc2142.txt
> 
> rfc2142 only deals with email addresses, what if the host is conducting a
> denial of service attack and you need to call someone. email addresses are
> rather less useful then. a quick whois and ring up is usually more
> effective in getting an attack shut down.

May I humbly suggest that we extend RFC2142 in the following fashion:

All domain names should include a host named LDAP at which an LDAP server
is operational which will answer queries for specific contact information
for that domain. For example, if the domain name is example.com then the
host named ldap.example.com would have a publicly accessible LDAP server
available. 

The intent is for this server to make available up to date contact
information for network operations people that deal with various types of
emergency and non-emergency operational issues. An ongoing SMURF attack
would be an example of an emergency issue whereas a peering request would
be an example of a non-emergency issue. 

The contact information that is made available is intended only for use by
operations people at other network providers. Because the servers are
publicly accessible, the information may be
shielded by suppling contact info for a "dispatch" person who acts as a
gatekeeper for the real information. However this dispatcher must be able
to promptly forward calls on a 24/7 basis in order to properly handle
emergency issues.

The LDAP server will make available the following objects:

    index
    security
    abuse
    peering
    smurf
    ... (and the list goes on)

At a minimum, each emergency contact must contain an internationally
accessible phone number including area/city codes and country code. And
each non-emergency contact must include at least an email address.

It is expected that man network operators will use a backend server that
supports dynamic information so that contact info can be easily changed to
reflect shift schedules, etc.

P.S. This is pretty rough but I think you get the idea. Obviously it
relies on having a working network connection to retrieve the information
but because the info is published in a standard format, it wouldn't be too
hard for some people (DRA?) to suck in copies from everyone with an AS
number and make that available along with a few mirrors for robustness.

--
Michael Dillon                 -               E-mail: michael at memra.com
Check the website for my Internet World articles -  http://www.memra.com        






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