Examining the Bitsquatting Attack Surface

Presented at DEF CON 21 (2013), Aug. 2, 2013, 5 p.m. (20 minutes)

Bit errors in computer memory, when they occur in a stored domain name, can cause Internet traffic to be directed to the wrong Internet location potentially compromising security. When a domain name one bit different from a target domain is registered, this is called "bitsquatting". This presentation builds on previous work in this area presented by Artem Dinaburg at Blackhat 2011. Cisco's research into bitsquatting has revealed several previously unknown vectors for bitsquatting. Cisco has also discovered several new mitigations which do not involve installation of error correcting memory, nor the mass registration of bitsquat domains. In fact some of the new mitigations have the potential to render the problem of bitsquatting to the dustbin of history.


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