EXTRA GAP
Publications
A decade of evolution in telecommunications
infrastructure
Poster from the ACM Internet Measurement Conference (ICM), 2021
Azan Khanyari, Ioana Livadariu, Haakon Bryhni, Ahmed Elmokashfi
Abstract
Characterizing countries’ standing in terms of the maturity of their telecommunications infrastructure is paramount to inform policy and investments. Here, we use a broad set of features to group countries according to the state of their infrastructures and track how this has changed between 2010 and 2020. While a few nations continue to dominate, the membership of this club has changed with several European countries leaving.
You can access the poster here.
EXTRA GAP
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EXTRA GAP
Huawei, 5G and Security: Technological Limitations and Political Responses
Karsten Friis and Olav Lysne in Development and Change
3. October 2021
Abstract
How did Chinese 5G providers, such as Huawei, become a security concern in the USA and Europe? Were the security concerns related to 5G and Chinese suppliers based upon technological features of the systems, or were they a product of geopolitical rivalry? How did European approaches to 5G distinguish themselves from those of the USA? This article addresses these questions using an interdisciplinary approach via the framework of securitization theory. The authors argue that the technological features of 5G made securitization more likely compared to 4G, and that screening and control of software was unlikely to defuse securitization concerns. They also show how Europe chose its own path for the securitization of 5G. In short, the article argues that the American macrosecuritization of China largely failed in Europe, whereas the niche securitization of 5G was more successful.
You can access the entire article here.
EXTRA GAP
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A First Look at the African’s ccTLDs Technical Environment
Africom 2020: International Conference on e-Infrastructure and e-Services for developing countries
Alfred Arouna, Amreesh Phokeer, Ahmed Elmokashfi
Abstract
Leveraging multiple datasets, we evaluate the current status of African ccTLDs technical environment with regard to best practices. Compared to the top 10 ccTLDs, African ccTLDs appear to have enough IPs to maintain service availability while handling authoritative DNS queries. With regard to the early stage of IPv6 deployment in the AFRINIC region, it is interesting to note that 94% of African ccTLDs support IPv6. This is due to the huge adoption of out of region or offshore DNS anycast provider. The majority (84%) of African anycast traffic is handled by non-profit foundations and/or organisations using resources from other RIRs such as RIPE-NCC and ARIN. Furthermore, less than 30% (16) of African ccTLD have signed their zone. From this group, the majority is using the recommended algorithm RSASHA256 (Algorithm 8) as suggested by BCP 14. Strangely some African ccTLDs lack basic DNS configuration such as missing PTR records, lame delegation, EDNS compliance and consistent serial numbers. These misconfigurations can be easily fixed with consistent monitoring or the use of modern automated registry software which comes with internal checks. Overall, African ccTLDs are characterised by the usage of out of region resources.
You can access the entire paper here.
EXTRA GAP
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On the Accuracy of Country-Level IP Geolocation
Proceedings from Applied Networking Research Workshop (ANRW), Spain, July 2020
Thomas Dreibholz
Abstract
The proliferation of online services comprised of globally spread microservices has security and performance implications. Understanding the underlying physical paths connecting end points has become important. This paper investigates the accuracy of commonly used IP geolocation approaches in geolocating end-to-end IP paths. To this end, we perform a controlled measurement study to collect IP level paths. We find that existing databases tend to geolocate IPs that belong to networks with global presence and those move between networks erroneously. A small percentage of IP geolocation disagreement between databases results in a significant disagreement when geolocating end-to-end paths. Geolocating one week of RIPE traceroute data validates our observations.
You can download the entire paper here.
EXTRA GAP
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HiPerConTracer – A Versatile Tool for IP Connectivity Tracing in Multi-Path Setups
Proceedings of the 28th IEEE International Conference on Software, Telecommunications and Computer Networks (SoftCOM)
Thomas Dreibholz
Abstract
Nowadays, we see a steadily increasing number of Internet devices with connections to multiple networks. For example, every smartphone provides mobile broadband and Wi-Fi connectivity. Multi-path transport protocols, like MPTCP, CMT-SCTP or Multipath-QUIC, allow for utilising all connected networks simultaneously. However, while there is a lot of research on the Transport Layer aspects of multi-path transport, there is not much work on the Network Layer perspective, yet.
In this paper, we introduce our Open Source tool HiPerConTracer (High-Performance Connectivity Tracer) for efficient, parallelised, long-term measurements of the path connectivity characteristics among multi-homed Internet systems. HiPerConTracer is now running as a permanent feature in the NorNet Core infrastructure, which is used for research on multi-homed systems, and in particular for research on multi-path transport. Based on the HiPerConTracer data collected in NorNet Core so far, we finally present some interesting results from the analysis of the inter-continental site connectivity between China and Norway in January 2020.
The full article can be downloaded as a PDF file here.
EXTRA GAP
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The role of the UN Security Council in cybersecurity: international peace and security in the digital age.
Niels Nagelhus Schia and Eneken Tikk in Routledge Handbook of International Cybersecurity
20 April 2020
Summary
At the 75th anniversary of the United Nations, the UN Security Council is faced with difficult questions about its efficacy, relevance and legitimacy. The leading powers and the permanent members (P5) of the Security Council – China, France, Russia, the UK and the USA – are drawn into a heavy contest over the world order. Power lines are (to be) drawn in an increasingly digital, interconnected and multi-stakeholder society. So far, despite the language from heads of states, global media houses and from leaders of international organizations including NATO and the UN, none of the P5 countries have brought cyber to the UNSC. Other countries – for instance, Lithuania and the Netherlands – have considered introducing cybersecurity issues in the Council, but no action has followed. One of the most recent members-elect, Estonia, has pledged to take the issue up.
To stay relevant and act up on its responsibility for international peace and security, the Security Council will have to establish itself vis-à-vis cyber issues. The goal of this chapter is to examine why and how. To what extent do questions pertaining to digital threats and cybersecurity fall within the mandate of the Council and what could it address given the politically tense times among the P5.
For more information click here.
EXTRA GAP
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Social Practices of Rule-Making for International Law in the Cyber Domain.
Mark Raymond in Journal of Global Security Studies.
20 February 2020
Abstract
In 2013, despite deteriorating relations between Russia and the United States and increased global contention over cybersecurity issues, participating states in the First Committee of the United Nations General Assembly agreed on a landmark report endorsing the applicability of existing international law to state military use of information technology. Given these conditions, the timing of this agreement was surprising. In this article I argue that state representatives engaged in a rule-governed social practice of applying old rules to new cases, and that the procedural rules governing this practice help to explain the existence, timing, and form of the agreement. They also help to explain further agreements expressed in a follow-on report issued in 2015. The findings of the case study presented here demonstrate that social practices of rule-making are simultaneously rule-governed and politically contested, and that outcomes of these processes have been shaped by specialized rules for making, interpreting, and applying rules. The effectiveness of procedural rules in shaping the outcome of a contentious, complex global security issue suggests that such rules are likely to matter even more in simpler cases dealing with less contentious issues.
Read the full article here.