The sixth Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) DNS Symposium (IDS), organized by ICANN's Office of the Chief Technology Officer (OCTO), took place in Da Nang, Vietnam. This annual event is a one-day gathering focused on various aspects of the Domain Name System (DNS). IDS 2023, themed "The Integration of DNS with Emerging Technologies," was held on 5 September 2023 and hosted by the Vietnam Internet Network Information Center. With over 120 in-person attendees, the event boasted a strong turnout.
The primary objective of IDS 2023 was to delve into the challenges and opportunities linked to integrating the DNS with emerging technologies, including challenges related to its security. The symposium welcomed researchers, developers, and operators to share insights on a range of subjects including blockchains, Internet of things, and novel uses of the DNS, such as IP-to-location translation, blocklists, and so on.
Throughout the day, an array of topics was discussed. Swapneel Sheth, Senior Director of Research Engineering of Verisign's Chief Technology Officer, tackled the challenges and prospects of DNS integrations, highlighting the various groups currently engaged in DNS integration efforts. Specific integration examples were presented. Vittorio Bertola, the Head of Policy and Innovation at Open-Xchange, discussed DNS-based identifiers for instant messaging, and Jacques Latour, Chief Technology and Security Officer at the Canadian Internet Registration Authority, explored the challenges of using DNS in a digital credential context. In addition, Pitinan Kooarmornpatana, ICANN's Internationalized Domain Names (IDNs) Programs Manager, discussed the design of secure and stable rules for IDNs.
The symposium also devoted time to addressing DNS abuse. Graeme Bunton, Executive Director of the DNS Abuse Institute, shared the findings of a survey on predicting abusive domain registrations. Siôn Lloyd, ICANN Principal Security, Stability and Resiliency Specialist, delved into observed traffic patterns in "alternative" top-level domain traffic at the root. Carlos Hernandez Gañan, ICANN Principal Security, Stability and Resiliency Specialist, examined the evolving landscape of distributed denial-of-service attacks and the role of DNS and Internet of Things botnets.
A comprehensive discussion of DNS would be incomplete without considering related topics of DNS Security Extensions (DNSSEC). Phil Regnauld, Network Engineer and Trainer for the Network Startup Resource Center, and Raffaele Sommese, Postdoctoral Researcher on Network Security at the University of Twente, presented the results of a survey on Knowledge-Sharing and Instantiating Norms for DNS and Naming Security. Edward Lewis, ICANN Senior Technologist, discussed the current state of DNSSEC implementation. Johan Stenstam, from the Swedish Internet Foundation, presented on automating the synchronization of delegation data between parent and child domains, and Alain Durand, ICANN Distinguished Technologist, examined the influence of DNS providers on DNSSEC deployment.
Visit our dedicated IDS page for the recordings and presentations: https://www.icann.org/ids.
We are already looking ahead to planning the next IDS and hope to see you there!