‘Digital Ice‘ is the codename for a large-scale operation by the US Customs Authority, aimed at containing the rampant increase in counterfeit domain names.
Produced in secret locations in Korea and Nepal, counterfeit domains contain flaws and often hide malicious software in the domain’s microcode.
“We’re looking at a large scale operation, we’re able to scan more than a million domains per hour, as they are transported across the United States,” said Tiffany Yu of the National Security Agency.
“If we determine that a domain is counterfeit, we definitely flag it as such and we arrest its courier as they transport it across our scanners,” added Yu.
These domain scanners are installed at various airports around the US, currently in testing mode.
When you pass through them, your digital assets such as memory cards or computer equipment are scanned for the domain microcode that every domain name contains. If it’s not verified against the Registry certificate, it’s tagged as counterfeit.
Be careful when transporting domain names; always carry the digital certificate with you.
i didn’t know they could do that. are they gonna be seizing all fake names. i have a bunch of domains that begin with the word fake. are they all illegal?
RaTHeaD – I like the way you’re thinking! Did you ask the NSA?