Open Resolver Problems

Wed Mar 27 12:40:42 UTC 2013

On Wed, Mar 27, 2013 at 11:20:54AM +0000, Nick Hilliard wrote:
> I'm struggling to understand why it's necessary to hard-code dns servers
> into the ip networking configuration of a portable device.  By definition,
> these devices will already have dhcp enabled.

It's necessary because many operations are screwing with DNS results in
order to advance/suppress political agendas, impose their moral code
via censorship, profit via redirection to search portals, etc.  If we
could actually trust that J. Random Hotel would not do so, then yes,
whatever DNS servers are assigned via DHCP would suffice.

(Let me caveat this by saying that I don't have a problem with screwing
with DNS results for operational reasons, e.g., I think refusing to send
DNS queries into DROP-listed space is a good security practice.)

---rsk