ISC Announces Start of OARC Operations; Crisis Coordination Center for the Internet's Domain Name System; http://oarc.isc.org/.

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

REDWOOD CITY, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 20, 2003

Today, the Internet Software Consortium (ISC) initiates operation of a crisis coordination center to protect the Internet's global Domain Name System (DNS). Non-profit ISC's new member-based Operations, Analysis, and Research Center (OARC) includes an Incident Response System, a trusted environment enabling major network operators to coordinate responses to threats and attacks on the DNS. While ISC OARC member organizations may be business competitors, members agree to work together for the common good during times of crisis while also protecting proprietary data.

Initial members of ISC OARC include WIDE, RIPE NCC, APNIC, ARIN, LACNIC, CAIDA, the Internet Society, Cisco Systems, MCI, XO Communications, UltraDNS, ISTS at Dartmouth College, Afilias, Autonomica, InternetPerils, Inc., Verio an NTT Communications Company, and Telehouse USA, as well as many of the operators of the global root DNS nameservers. The service is available to Internet Service Providers, corporate Network Operating Centers, cyber security groups, Top Level Domain operators, and developers of DNS hardware and software.

The ISC OARC includes four other programs in addition to the Incident Response System:

-- Operational Characterization. The OARC collects and

characterizes traffic flows on key nameservers in order to

distinguish normal versus abnormal operation. The OARC will

also be working closely with RIPE NCC's DNSMON program and

other data collection efforts. The RIPE NCC (www.ripe.net) is

one of four Regional Internet Address Registries.

-- Analysis. The OARC cooperates with leading Internet

researchers to provide long-term analysis of the performance,

stability, and security of the global DNS. Dr. K.C. Claffy,

Principal Investigator of the Cooperative Association for

Internet Data Analysis (CAIDA) said, "CAIDA has been working

closely with the ISC OARC to establish research projects

targeted to improving our ability to measure, model and

protect critical DNS infrastructure." CAIDA (www.caida.org) is

based at the San Diego Supercomputer Center on campus at the

University of California, San Diego.

-- Testing. The ISC OARC Testing Laboratory, capable of

simulating a real-world multi-vendor hardware and software DNS

environment, will open in January 2004 and will allow patches

designed in response to DNS attacks to be tested prior to

deployment.

-- Outreach & Education. The ISC OARC will publish extensive

educational materials on the web to inform the public how they

and their providers can implement and use the DNS safely.

Suzanne Woolf, ISC's Senior Programme Manager responsible for the OARC, said, "ISC OARC is going to provide an important coordinating function for large DNS operators. We've always closely coordinated on an informal basis, but as the DNS continues to play an increasingly-important role in an ever-larger Internet, we really need to put formal mechanisms in place to respond more quickly and effectively to incidents."

About Internet Software Consortium. ISC (www.isc.org) is a non-profit corporation founded in 1994 to provide public services associated with the Domain Name System. ISC produces and releases as open source BIND, the reference implementation for the DNS, which is used by the vast majority of DNS servers around the world and also operates the F-root nameserver, conducts the monthly Domain Survey, and is a key contributor to DNS standardization efforts.