Delivered-To: dfarber+@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Date: Wed, 17 Sep 2003 19:27:49 -0400
From: "Wingfield, Nick" <Nick.Wingfield@xxxxxxx>
Subject: VeriSign update
To: "'dave@xxxxxxxxxx'" <dave@xxxxxxxxxx>
Dave,
In case it's of interest to IP...
Nick
=WSJ: VeriSign Responds To Complaints About New Service
Dow Jones News Service via Dow Jones
By Nick Wingfield
Of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
SAN FRANCISCO (Dow Jones)--VeriSign Inc. (VRSN), responding to an
outpouring
of complaints about a new service that exploits the typing errors users make
when surfing the Web, said it plans to work with technologists to remedy
disruptions the service has caused to some Internet applications like
e-mail.
At the same time, the VeriSign service triggered a huge increase in the
amount
of traffic flowing to the Mountain View, Calif., company's Web site, a
portion
of which may be the result of a hacker attack against the company, VeriSign
said.
(This story and related background material are available on the Journal's
Web
site, WSJ.com.)
VeriSign on Monday introduced the service, dubbed Site Finder, which
steers
users who attempt to reach nonexistent Web addresses to a site operated by
VeriSign. The company is able to take control of the traffic because it
operates
the master list, or "registry," for all Internet addresses ending in ".com"
and
".net."
VeriSign said it designed Site Finder as a navigational aid for Web users.
It
also receives revenue from the additional traffic through relationships with
Overture Services Inc. (OVER) and Yahoo Inc.'s (YHOO) Inktomi, which guide
users
to Web sites.
The new VeriSign service infuriated many network operators, though, who
say it
has disrupted the functioning of e-mail and other applications. Among the
complaints about the VeriSign service is that it hurts the ability of
Internet
service providers to block "spam" sent from Internet addresses that don't
exist
- a common technique normally used to stem the flow of junk e-mail. Internet
service providers and software groups have developed patches that prevent
the
VeriSign service from working on their networks.
In a statement Tuesday, VeriSign said it would release technical
information
on its Web site that would help network operators adapt their software so
they
could block unwanted e-mail again. "In the course of implementation, various
users asked us to modify the service to accommodate anti-spam applications,"
the
company said in the statement. "Because VeriSign strongly supports
appropriate
technical measures designed to reduce unwanted spam, we are reaching out to
users and the community to make appropriate adjustments to the service."
"We remain committed to ensuring that Site Finder improves Web navigation
and
the user experience," VeriSign added.
Despite the controversy, VeriSign's efforts to nab control of typo-prone
Internet users appears to be having a sizable impact on the volumes of users
visiting its site. Traffic to the company's Web site on Tuesday skyrocketed
to
about 1.3 million visitors from an average of about 100,000 visitors on the
previous four Tuesdays, according to measurement firm ComScore Networks Inc.
Some of that may have been due to malicious - not typo - traffic. A
VeriSign
spokesman said the company experienced a "denial of service" attack on its
Web
site on Tuesday, in which hackers use computers to bombard Web sites with
traffic in hopes of overloading them. The attack appeared to subside by
Wednesday, the spokesman said. A ComScore spokesman said it's "very
unlikely"
that a denial of service attack on VeriSign had a significant impact on the
ComScore traffic figures.