[OPLIN 4cast] OPLIN 4Cast #748: 175 million unused Pentagon IP addresses woke up

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OPLIN 4Cast #748: 175 million unused Pentagon IP addresses woke up
April 28th, 2021

[image: Globe, maked individual and wifi] As the internet was originally a
U.S. Department of Defense project, huge swaths of addresses were allocated
to the DoD. IP addresses have become increasingly valuable, but the Defense
Dept. has successfully fended off attempts to force them to sell. But
suddenly, while the country was rolling from the Trump to the Biden
administration, some of those addresses became routable, and the address
space quickly grew to the largest collection of IP addresses controlled by
a single entity. This week, the Pentagon offered a partial explanation.

   -
   - The big Pentagon internet mystery now partially solved
   <https://apnews.com/article/technology-business-government-and-politics-b26ab809d1e9fdb53314f56299399949>
   [*AP News*] "A very strange thing happened on the internet the day
   President Joe Biden was sworn in. A shadowy company residing at a shared
   workspace above a Florida bank announced to the world’s computer networks
   that it was now managing a colossal, previously idle chunk of the internet
   owned by the U.S. Department of Defense."
   - Minutes before Trump left office, millions of the Pentagon’s dormant
   IP addresses sprang to life
   <https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2021/04/24/pentagon-internet-address-mystery/>
   [*Washington Post*] "The change is the handiwork of an elite Pentagon
   unit known as the Defense Digital Service, which reports directly to the
   secretary of defense. The DDS bills itself as a 'SWAT team of nerds' tasked
   with solving emergency problems for the department and conducting
   experimental work to make big technological leaps for the military."
   - The Pentagon gave a company control of 175 million IP addresses
   <https://www.engadget.com/pentagon-gives-ip-address-control-to-florida-company-200249879.html>
   [*Engadget*] "The military might use knowledge from the pilot to prevent
   hostile governments or cybercriminals from hijacking dormant IP addresses.
   This also makes sure the US can manage the IP addresses so that it can use
   them if it likes."
   - The Mystery of AS8003
   <https://www.kentik.com/blog/the-mystery-of-as8003/> [*Kentik Blog*]
   "While yesterday’s statement from the DoD answers some questions, much
   remains a mystery. Why did the DoD not just announce this address space
   themselves instead of directing an outside entity to use the AS of a long
   dormant email marketing firm? Why did it come to life in the final moments
   of the previous administration?

*From the Ohio Web Library <http://ohioweblibrary.org>:*

   - Mangu-Ward, Katherine. “Bug Catchers
   <https://search-ebscohost-com.proxy.oplin.org/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=114741854&site=ehost-live>
   .” *Reason*, vol. 48, no. 2, June 2016, pp. 9–10.
   - Guyer, Jonathan. “Silicon Valley Takes the Battlespace
   <https://search-ebscohost-com.proxy.oplin.org/login.aspx?direct=true&db=pwh&AN=148666099&site=ehost-live>
   .” *American Prospect*, vol. 32, no. 1, Jan. 2021, pp. 42–47.
   - Lychev, Robert, et al. “Rethinking Security for Internet Routing
   <https://search-ebscohost-com.proxy.oplin.org/login.aspx?direct=true&db=buh&AN=118436918&site=ehost-live>
   .” *Communications of the ACM*, vol. 59, no. 10, Oct. 2016, pp. 48–57.

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