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DNS Dependencies as an Expression of the Digital Divide: The Example of Australia

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Computer Security. ESORICS 2023 International Workshops (ESORICS 2023)

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNCS,volume 14399))

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Abstract

This paper investigates the relationship between the digital divide, Internet transparency, and DNS dependencies. The term “digital divide” refers to a gap between how different population groups can access and use digital technology, with disadvantaged groups generally having less access than others. Internet transparency refers to efforts that reveal and understand critical dependencies on the Internet. DNS is a vital service in the Internet infrastructure. It has become common for network and website operators to outsource the operation of their DNS services to a (limited) number of specialized DNS providers. Depending on the choice of provider, a network or site may achieve better or worse availability, especially under adversarial conditions (power outages, attacks, etc.). This work-in-progress paper analyzes DNS provisioning and dependencies for Australian government websites to identify a possible digital divide. More specifically, we investigate setups with respect to potential drawbacks in terms of availability or domestic control over the setup. We choose sites whose audience is primarily the indigenous population and sites that target the broader, general population. We can indeed identify differences between the DNS dependencies, in particular with respect to the use of hyperscalers, domestic vs. international providers, and dedicated government infrastructure. The implications for availability and control are more subtle and require further investigation. However, our results show that Internet measurement can detect signals of possible digital divides, and we believe this aspect should be added to the Internet transparency agenda.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Computer Science, The University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia

    Niousha Nazemi, Omid Tavallaie, Albert Y. Zomaya & Ralph Holz

  2. Department of Mathematics and Computer Science, University of Münster, Münster, Germany

    Ralph Holz

Authors
  1. Niousha Nazemi
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  2. Omid Tavallaie
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  3. Albert Y. Zomaya
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  4. Ralph Holz
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Niousha Nazemi .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Gjøvik, Norway

    Sokratis Katsikas

  2. Norwegian Computing Center, Oslo, Norway

    Habtamu Abie

  3. University of Trento, Trento, Italy

    Silvio Ranise

  4. University of Genoa, Genoa, Italy

    Luca Verderame

  5. Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (CNR), Genoa, Italy

    Enrico Cambiaso

  6. SINTEF A.S., Oslo, Norway

    Rita Ugarelli

  7. Instituto Superior de Engenharia do Porto, Porto, Portugal

    Isabel Praça

  8. Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong, China

    Wenjuan Li

  9. Technical University of Denmark, Kongens Lyngby, Denmark

    Weizhi Meng

  10. University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK

    Steven Furnell

  11. Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Gjøvik, Norway

    Basel Katt

  12. Norwegian Computing Center, Oslo, Norway

    Sandeep Pirbhulal

  13. Institute for Energy Technology (IFE), Halden, Norway

    Ankur Shukla

  14. University of Calabria, Rende, Italy

    Michele Ianni

  15. University of Verona, Verona, Italy

    Mila Dalla Preda

  16. The University of Texas at San Antonio, San Antonio, TX, USA

    Kim-Kwang Raymond Choo

  17. University of Lisbon, Lisbon, Portugal

    Miguel Pupo Correia

  18. University of Twente, Enschede, The Netherlands

    Abhishta Abhishta

  19. University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

    Giovanni Sileno

  20. Open University in the Netherlands, Heerlen, The Netherlands

    Mina Alishahi

  21. Robert Gordon University, Aberdeen, UK

    Harsha Kalutarage

  22. Osaka University, Osaka, Japan

    Naoto Yanai

Appendix

Appendix

Table 2. Keywords set.
Full size table
Table 3. List of Australian government services providing DNS services.
Full size table

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Nazemi, N., Tavallaie, O., Zomaya, A.Y., Holz, R. (2024). DNS Dependencies as an Expression of the Digital Divide: The Example of Australia. In: Katsikas, S., et al. Computer Security. ESORICS 2023 International Workshops. ESORICS 2023. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 14399. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-54129-2_29

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-54129-2_29

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-031-54128-5

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-031-54129-2

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