Close
  • Latest News
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Networking
  • Cybersecurity
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Storage
  • Sponsored
  • Mobile
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
Read Down
Sign in
Close
Welcome!Log into your account
Forgot your password?
Read Down
Password recovery
Recover your password
Close
Search
Logo
Logo
  • Latest News
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Networking
  • Cybersecurity
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Storage
  • Sponsored
  • Mobile
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
More
    Home Cloud
    • Cloud
    • Cybersecurity
    • Networking

    DNS Poisoning Suspected Cause of Huge Internet Outage in China

    By
    Sean Michael Kerner
    -
    January 23, 2014
    Share
    Facebook
    Twitter
    Linkedin

      Internet users in China were affected by a large-scale outage over an eight-hour period on Jan. 21 that has been linked to an unspecified DNS problem that redirected traffic and prevented many Web users from reaching popular domains.

      DNS (Domain Name System) is the technology that links domain names and routes them to the right IP address location. It is not entirely clear whether or not the DNS issue was the result of a hacker attack against China’s DNS infrastructure or whether it was an error made by Chinese government authorities.

      The Chinese government operates an Internet-filtering capability for all Chinese Internet users that is generally referred to as the Great Firewall of China (GFW). At least one Great Firewall watchdog site is blaming the Great Firewall as the source of the DNS issue.

      “We have conclusive evidence that this outage was caused by the Great Firewall (GFW),” greatfire.org reported. “DNS poisoning is used extensively by the GFW.”

      DNS poisoning is an attack that infects legitimate DNS records in an effort to redirect traffic. The initial indication is that traffic was redirected to the IP address 65.49.2.178, which is owned by Dynamic Internet Technology, a company that operates a GFW bypass tool. Great Fire speculated that the redirection was unintentional.

      “One hypothesis is that GFW might have intended to block the IP but accidentally used that IP to poison all domains,” Great Fire wrote.

      While opponents of Chinese censorship have pointed the finger at the Chinese government itself for the outage, the Chinese Foreign Minister reportedly is blaming hackers. According to a Reuters report, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang said he did not know who was responsible for the outage.

      “I don’t know who did this or where it came from, but what I want to point out is this reminds us once again that maintaining Internet security needs strengthened international cooperation,” Gang said. “This again shows that China is a victim of hacking.”

      So far there have been no official estimates of the number of users who lost Internet access.

      Regardless of the root cause, the DNS issue had a significant impact on the Internet. Application performance management (APM) vendor Compuware is among those that have been able to remotely see the impact of the China outage.

      “When you consider the population affected, this was one of the biggest outages we’ve ever seen, with one seventh of global Internet users impacted,” Heiko Specht, solution specialist for Compuware APM, stated in an email sent to eWEEK. “However, the impact wasn’t just on Chinese internet users; companies around the world could have lost potentially $200 million in online sales during the eight hour period.”

      Sean Michael Kerner is a senior editor at eWEEK and InternetNews.com. Follow him on Twitter @TechJournalist.

      Sean Michael Kerner
      Sean Michael Kerner is an Internet consultant, strategist, and contributor to several leading IT business web sites.

      MOST POPULAR ARTICLES

      Big Data and Analytics

      Alteryx’s Suresh Vittal on the Democratization of...

      James Maguire - May 31, 2022 0
      I spoke with Suresh Vittal, Chief Product Officer at Alteryx, about the industry mega-shift toward making data analytics tools accessible to a company’s complete...
      Read more
      Cybersecurity

      Visa’s Michael Jabbara on Cybersecurity and Digital...

      James Maguire - May 17, 2022 0
      I spoke with Michael Jabbara, VP and Global Head of Fraud Services at Visa, about the cybersecurity technology used to ensure the safe transfer...
      Read more
      Cloud

      IGEL CEO Jed Ayres on Edge and...

      James Maguire - June 14, 2022 0
      I spoke with Jed Ayres, CEO of IGEL, about the endpoint sector, and an open source OS for the cloud; we also spoke about...
      Read more
      Applications

      Cisco’s Thimaya Subaiya on Customer Experience in...

      James Maguire - May 10, 2022 0
      I spoke with Thimaya Subaiya, SVP and GM of Global Customer Experience at Cisco, about the factors that create good customer experience – and...
      Read more
      Big Data and Analytics

      GoodData CEO Roman Stanek on Business Intelligence...

      James Maguire - May 4, 2022 0
      I spoke with Roman Stanek, CEO of GoodData, about business intelligence, data as a service, and the frustration that many executives have with data...
      Read more
      Logo

      eWeek has the latest technology news and analysis, buying guides, and product reviews for IT professionals and technology buyers. The site’s focus is on innovative solutions and covering in-depth technical content. eWeek stays on the cutting edge of technology news and IT trends through interviews and expert analysis. Gain insight from top innovators and thought leaders in the fields of IT, business, enterprise software, startups, and more.

      Facebook
      Linkedin
      RSS
      Twitter
      Youtube

      Advertisers

      Advertise with TechnologyAdvice on eWeek and our other IT-focused platforms.

      Advertise with Us

      Menu

      • About eWeek
      • Subscribe to our Newsletter
      • Latest News

      Our Brands

      • Privacy Policy
      • Terms
      • About
      • Contact
      • Advertise
      • Sitemap
      • California – Do Not Sell My Information

      Property of TechnologyAdvice.
      © 2022 TechnologyAdvice. All Rights Reserved

      Advertiser Disclosure: Some of the products that appear on this site are from companies from which TechnologyAdvice receives compensation. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site including, for example, the order in which they appear. TechnologyAdvice does not include all companies or all types of products available in the marketplace.

      ×