Websites for Airbnb and Netflix were vulnerable for a time, but both have since updated their software. (Photo : Reuters)
A newly discovered flaw hidden deep on the Internet's architecture, when exploited, has the capability to affect the normal flow of the traffic of majority of websites on the net. The flaw was traced down to BIND which is one of the most widely used Domain Name System (DNS) software on the Internet.
According to BBC, the flaw will not affect regular Internet users. However, the perceived flaw will have serious repercussions to websites if left unpatched. The recently discovered bug allows hackers to crash the target website's DNS software and render its server offline. If a website's DNS is taken down, its URL will most likely to crash as well.
The Internet Systems Consortium, which is responsible for developing the BIND software, posted on its official Twitter account the possible degree of repercussion if the flaw is left unpatched. The group said tweeted that the flaw was "particularly critical" and added that it can be "easily exploited."
Security expert and Sucuri founder Daniel Cid posted on his company's official blog, "We can confirm the attacks have begun. DNS is one of the most critical parts of the Internet infrastructure, so having your DNS go down also means your email, HTTP and other services will be unavailable."
While the perceived flaw sounds like an Internet doomsday scenario, many security experts disagree. The bug might pose a serious threat to the DNS infrastructure. However, websites will remain accessible through various routes and cached addresses on DNS servers scattered all over the globe.
Cyber security experts are advising website administrators, especially those running a BIND DNS server, to patch their systems as soon as possible before malicious attackers can exploit the bug.
