Improving Institution Confidence -- operational security and DNSSEC

[George Kirikos <gkirikos@xxxxxxxxx>]

Hello,

I'd like to briefly comment that ICANN should be making implementation
of DNSSEC or other secure DNS options a priority, especially in light
of the recent DNS cache poisoning attacks/flaws that were revealed as
an underlying weakness of the protocol itself.

I agree with the statement that:

"5.5.   The PSC considers the security and stability of the Internet?s
unique identifiers is one of the most important aspects of ICANN?s
mission."

ICANN should not be thinking about transition of the authoritative root
zone file (which Meredith Baker spoke about in her comments from the US
DOC;  we agree with the DOC position) until more fundamental matters of
security and stability are addressed. ICANN too often has been a
follower and "reactive", instead of being a leader and proactive. This
needs to change, while still being consistent with the "bottom-up,
consensus driven" organization. By keeping its ear to the ground and
following more of the "early warnings" from the bottom, it can be
poised to be a leader and proactive on the big issues. Too often
problems snowballed when ICANN did have warning and chose to do
nothing.

Sincerely,

George Kirikos
http://www.kirikos.com/