DNS Open Resolvers in African networks (Internship@AFRINIC)

Public DNS (PDNS) Open resolvers are used by networks operators to resolve domain names. Examples of public open DNS resolvers are (Cloudflare 1.1.1.1, Google 8.8.8.8, IBM 9.9.9.9, etc). Those PDNS are anycast servers and are generally protected against DDOS attacks, but other openly accessible DNS resolvers (usually hosted by network operators) are considered to be a serious security threat as they can be used to launch massive DDOS attacks. The best practice is not to operate an Open DNS resolver unless you are a PDNS with the required level of security. 

This project is about unveiling the current open DNS resolvers in the AFRINIC IP space (both IPv4 and IPv6) and visualize them on a map. This project involves running measurements to detect open resolvers, maintain a database and develop a front-end to visualize the results.

Keywords: DNS, open resolvers, DDOS

 

 

Number of Students/Interns required Duration
 1  3-6 months
 Key deliverables  Skills required
 
  1. Survey of African networks and detection of DNS Open resolvers (IPv4 and IPv6)
  2. Visualisation of DNS open resolvers on a map, with details on each resolver
  3. Development of an API to facilitate retrieval of data
  
  1. Bash scripting
  2. Databases (MySQL, PostgreSQL)
  3. Web development (Python/Django, Php, Angular.js, etc)

 

 

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