sloth unleashed

In a nutshell, a flaw in the design of the DNS protocol (which translates domain names like “techdirt.com” to IP addresses) will make it possible for malicious individuals to invisibly redirect web traffic from legitimate sites to sites of the attacker’s choosing. This is a huge deal because a ton of online applications and services depend on reliable DNS for their security. You might think you’re visiting your bank’s website, but if your DNS server isn’t patched you could really be sending your password to hackers in Russia. Kaminsky tells Wired that fewer than half of the DNS servers on the Internet were patched when the details of the vulnerability leaked, so it’s a real problem. If your ISP hasn’t patched its DNS servers, you can protect yourself by switching to OpenDNS until they do so.

[Kaminsky’s site, www.doxpara.com has a tool to check your DNS and see if it’s been patched…](m)