[4917] in North American Network Operators' Group
Re: Peering versus Transit
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Alexis Rosen)
Wed Oct 2 04:37:03 1996
From: Alexis Rosen <alexis@panix.com>
To: avg@quake.net (Vadim Antonov)
Date: Wed, 2 Oct 1996 04:31:49 -0400 (EDT)
Cc: nanog@merit.edu
In-Reply-To: <199610010236.TAA00437@quest.quake.net> from "Vadim Antonov" at Sep 30, 96 07:36:16 pm
Vadim Antonov writes:
>
> Sanjay Dani(maillists) <indus@professionals.com> wrote:
>
> > Heh. That's an example of how stupid technology is being
> > preserved by stupid legistlation. The laws regarding POTS are
> > generally legal fixes for techincal problems (like inability
> > to block annoying calls).
>
> >Forgotten the syn flood attack so quickly? Heard of IP spoofing?
>
> How long did it take for OS vendors to come up with fixes?
> A week.
>
> And for how long telcos can't do anything about annoying calls?
> A hundred years.
>
> That only confirms my point.
I agree with Vadim 100% on his larger point (the hydra-like peering vs.
transit argument).
That said, I think that this particular response is wrong. The fact that
Avi and I hacked out a half-assed solution in a few days, or that OS vendors
are working on a four-fifths-assed solution now (most don't have one ready,
as far as I know), doesn't really solve the problem. Most people here can
probably name a half-dozen ways off the top of their head to use forged-
source-IP packets to do incredible damage to large numbers of hosts or to
most/all of the net. I know I can, and I'm far from the biggest expert
here.
Source IP forging is a Sword of Damocles that hangs over the net. It will
destroy us, sooner or later, if we don't do something about it.
/a
