April 2003 - db-wg - mailman.ripe.net

<auto-dbm@ripe.net> is slow this afternoon.
by RIPE Database Administration 17 May '18

17 May '18

Dear Colleagues, Because of a very high level of use this afternoon, the response time of <auto-dbm(a)ripe.net> is longer than normal. I have made contact with those who are responsible and I expect the situation to improve as the machine works through the queue. Please be patient. Obviously we at the RIPE NCC Database Group are continuously working to make the performance of the database as good as possible. However, we cannot make improvements in zero time. We thank you for your co-operation up to now and we ask for your continued co-operation so that everyone receives the best possible service. If you have anymore questions, please contact <ripe-dbm(a)ripe.net>. Regards, Ambrose Magee ____________________________ RIPE Database Administration.

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New Draft Document announcement
by RIPE NCC WebMaster 29 Apr '03

29 Apr '03

Dear Colleagues, The RIPE NCC has prepared a draft document titled "Improved Secure Communication System for RIPE NCC Members": http://www.ripe.net/ripe/draft-documents/pki-20030429.html Abstract There is a need for secure communication between the RIPE NCC and its members. This document presents an overview of the current communication system, and a new approach based on X.509 PKI (Public Key Infrastructure) technology and standards that will make interaction with the services provided by the RIPE NCC to its members more convenient and secure. Finally, the phases necessary to implement the system are described. The idea behind publishing this as a draft document is to give RIPE NCC members time to read it and provide feedback. If the LIRs agree with the ideas presented, then it will become a RIPE document and act as a basis for the project. The draft document can be discussed on the LIR Working Group, <lir-wg(a)ripe.net>, or you can send comments to <pki-suggestions(a)ripe.net>. Best regards, -- Shane Kerr RIPE NCC

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Call for agenda items for DB-WG session in BCN
by Wilfried Woeber, UniVie/ACOnet 26 Apr '03

26 Apr '03

Dear DB-WG! The date for the next RIPE meeting in Barcelona is approaching and I am supposed to submit the draft agenda for the DB-WG meeting in Barcelona. If you want to have a topic on the agenda, please speak up - either on the list or to my personal mailbox. I hope to see many of you in Barcelona! Wilfried. _________________________________:_____________________________________ Wilfried Woeber : e-mail: Woeber(a)CC.UniVie.ac.at UniVie Computer Center - ACOnet : Tel: +43 1 4277 - 140 33 Universitaetsstrasse 7 : Fax: +43 1 4277 - 9 140 A-1010 Vienna, Austria, Europe : RIPE-DB: WW144, PGP keyID 0xF0ACB369 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~:~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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Deprecating auth=NONE
by Hank Nussbacher 24 Apr '03

24 Apr '03

Back in March 2002 we started to deprecate auth=MAIL-FROM. In August we finished it: http://www.ripe.net/ripencc/pub-services/db/mailfrom.html We did not do the same for auth=NONE and the RIPE announcement stated: "Though NONE "auth" scheme is even weaker it is not supposed to be consciously used for object protection, but rather as notification facility. Therefore NONE "auth" scheme is outside the scope of this proposal." It has come lately to the attention in the Internet security realm that spammers as well as crackers are hijacking IP address space. One easy way to "steal" IP address space is via those that have auth=NONE on their objects. Go to: http://www.ripe.net/db/whois-free.html select ALL and type in the search bar "auth: none". The results of those that can have their IPs easily hijacked is, how shall I say this, enormous. Luckily the RIPE search form is limited to 100 hits. Just as an example and not to pick on C&W but: aut-num: AS13186 as-name: UNSPECIFIED descr: C&W SA Autonomous System descr: Alcalde Barnils 64-68 descr: Parque Empresarial Sant Joan descr: 08190 Sant Cugat del Valles descr: BARCELONA import: from AS3352 action pref=100; accept ANY import: from AS12541 action pref=100; accept ANY import: from AS3561 action pref=100; accept ANY import: from AS16091 action pref=100; accept AS16091 export: to AS3352 announce AS13186 AS16091 export: to AS12541 announce AS13186 AS16091 export: to AS3561 announce AS13186 AS16091 export: to AS16091 announce ANY default: to AS12541 action pref=100; networks ANY admin-c: RV4415-RIPE tech-c: XL5-RIPE remarks: AS3352 -> anvazque@obscured-domain remarks: AS12541 ->graham.cole@obscured-domain mnt-by: AS13186-MNT mntner: AS13186-MNT descr: Cable and Wireless SA admin-c: RV4415-RIPE tech-c: XL5-RIPE upd-to: d12@obscured-domain auth: NONE mnt-by: AS13186-MNT referral-by: RIPE-DBM-MNT route: 212.66.160.0/19 descr: Intercom Servicios Telematicos Avanzados, S.A. origin: AS13186 notify: xlario@obscured-domain mnt-by: AS13186-MNT I could right now remove the route entry for 212.66.160.0/19 or change it to some other origin and thereby hijack the entry. All those that use auto-build tools based on the info in RIPE would allow me to announce the /19 and not C&W in Spain. Just an example. There are thousands. RIPE NCC won't deprecate auth=NONE without us telling them to do it. Why would we not want this? -Hank

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v6wpd release announcement
by DB Role Account 24 Apr '03

24 Apr '03

[apologies for duplicate messages] Dear Colleagues, We are happy to announce the IPv6 Whois Proxy Daemon source code release. The release contains the software for proxying a RIPE Whois server on an IPv6 network. It contains the facility of mapping individual IPv6 addresses to RFC1918 IPv4 addresses, in order to ensure proper access list controls. The software is available at ftp://ftp.ripe.net/ripe/dbase/software/v6wpd-1.0.0.tar.gz Please contact dbtools(a)ripe.net for any comments. Best regards, -- Can Bican DB Group RIPE NCC

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Improvements to database update software
by DB-News 23 Apr '03

23 Apr '03

[apologies for duplicate messages] Dear Colleagues, The Database Group at the RIPE NCC has been working on restructuring the dbupdate program. This is the part of the RIPE Whois server that processes update requests from users. The main goal has been to improve the acknowledgement messages that users receive from the RIPE Whois Database and provide clearer error reporting and authorisation information. We have also been able to make the software easier to maintain and modify. This will reduce the time spent fixing bugs and adding new features. Details may be found here: http://www.ripe.net/db/dbupdate/ A page further explaining the new acknowledgements can be found here: http://www.ripe.net/db/dbupdate/acknowledgments.html The new dbupdate messages have a different format. Therefore a phased approach to introducing the new server has been taken. For a period we will use the new dbupdate in parallel with the old one. This will allow people using automated tools time to update their software. PRE-MIGRATION Before the new dbupdate was available. auto-dbm-old(a)ripe.net DOES NOT EXIST auto-dbm(a)ripe.net --> old dbupdate auto-dbm-new(a)ripe.net DOES NOT EXIST DAY-X, Wednesday, 23 April, 2003 The new dbupdate is available but must be requested specifically. auto-dbm-old(a)ripe.net --> old dbupdate auto-dbm(a)ripe.net --> old dbupdate auto-dbm-new(a)ripe.net --> new dbupdate DAY-Y, Wednesday, 7 May, 2003 The new dbupdate is the default but the old dbupdate may be requested specifically. auto-dbm-old(a)ripe.net --> old dbupdate auto-dbm(a)ripe.net --> new dbupdate auto-dbm-new(a)ripe.net --> new dbupdate DAY-Z (POST-MIGRATION), Wednesday, 4 June, 2003 The old dbupdate is no longer available. auto-dbm-old(a)ripe.net DOES NOT EXIST auto-dbm(a)ripe.net --> new dbupdate auto-dbm-new(a)ripe.net DOES NOT EXIST Best regards, -- Shane Kerr Database Group RIPE NCC

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announcement of unreferenced person cleanup mechanism
by RIPE Database Manager 16 Apr '03

16 Apr '03

[apologies for duplicate messages] Introduction ------------ The primary function of the person records in the RIPE Whois Database is to document the contact people for IP address space, Autonomous System Numbers, or routing-related records. While all the data in the RIPE Database can be viewed publicly, unnecessary public dispersal of the information may cause infringement privacy rights of individuals. Periodic automatic deletion of person objects that are not referenced as a contact will help to reduce the amount of private data and free the resources consumed by them. This cleanup was discussed on the Database Working Group mailing list, and previously presented as part of the development plans. More information can be found at: http://www.ripe.net/ripe/mail-archives/db-wg/2002/msg00096.html Clean-up Process ---------------- The proposed operation of periodically removing unreferenced person objects will consist of three steps: 1. Periodically counting the references to person objects. 2. Warning the owners of objects by e-mail if they are unreferenced for more than 60 days. 3. Deleting the object automatically if it is still unreferenced 30 days after the warning. The warning will be sent to the e-mail addresses in the "mnt- by:" or the "e-mail:" attributes of person objects. - If the person object is maintained, each maintainer will be notified as follows: - If there are "mnt-nfy:" attributes, the e-mail addresses listed there will be mailed. - Or, the e-mail addresses in the "e-mail:" fields of the "admin-c:" and "tech-c:" entries of the maintainers will be mailed. - If the person object is not maintained, and there are "e-mail:" attributes in the object, those e-mail addresses will be mailed. Due to the initial high amount of unreferenced person objects, the time intervals mentioned above will not be observed for all person objects. In order to eliminate possible service outages, a limited amount of warnings will be mailed and a limited amount of person objects will be deleted every day. Timeline -------- On Tuesday, 29 April, 2003, the first e-mails will be sent notifying the appropriate parties about person objects that have been unreferenced for more than 60 days. The first deletions will occur 30 days later, on Thursday, 29 May, 2003. The process will be an on-going service, and objects that become and remain unreferenced will be treated in the same manner in the future. -- Can Bican DB Group RIPE NCC

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Deprecating auth=NONE
by Hank Nussbacher 15 Apr '03

15 Apr '03

Back in March 2002 we started to deprecate auth=MAIL-FROM. In August we finished it: http://www.ripe.net/ripencc/pub-services/db/mailfrom.html We did not do the same for auth=NONE and the RIPE announcement stated: "Though NONE "auth" scheme is even weaker it is not supposed to be consciously used for object protection, but rather as notification facility. Therefore NONE "auth" scheme is outside the scope of this proposal." It has come lately to the attention in the Internet security realm that spammers as well as crackers are hijacking IP address space. One easy way to "steal" IP address space is via those that have auth=NONE on their objects. Go to: http://www.ripe.net/db/whois-free.html select ALL and type in the search bar "auth: none". The results of those that can have their IPs easily hijacked is, how shall I say this, enormous. Luckily the RIPE search form is limited to 100 hits. Just as an example and not to pick on C&W but: aut-num: AS13186 as-name: UNSPECIFIED descr: C&W SA Autonomous System descr: Alcalde Barnils 64-68 descr: Parque Empresarial Sant Joan descr: 08190 Sant Cugat del Valles descr: BARCELONA import: from AS3352 action pref=100; accept ANY import: from AS12541 action pref=100; accept ANY import: from AS3561 action pref=100; accept ANY import: from AS16091 action pref=100; accept AS16091 export: to AS3352 announce AS13186 AS16091 export: to AS12541 announce AS13186 AS16091 export: to AS3561 announce AS13186 AS16091 export: to AS16091 announce ANY default: to AS12541 action pref=100; networks ANY admin-c: RV4415-RIPE tech-c: XL5-RIPE remarks: AS3352 -> anvazque@obscured-domain remarks: AS12541 ->graham.cole@obscured-domain mnt-by: AS13186-MNT mntner: AS13186-MNT descr: Cable and Wireless SA admin-c: RV4415-RIPE tech-c: XL5-RIPE upd-to: d12@obscured-domain auth: NONE mnt-by: AS13186-MNT referral-by: RIPE-DBM-MNT route: 212.66.160.0/19 descr: Intercom Servicios Telematicos Avanzados, S.A. origin: AS13186 notify: xlario@obscured-domain mnt-by: AS13186-MNT I could right now remove the route entry for 212.66.160.0/19 or change it to some other origin and thereby hijack the entry. All those that use auto-build tools based on the info in RIPE would allow me to announce the /19 and not C&W in Spain. Just an example. There are thousands. RIPE NCC won't deprecate auth=NONE without us telling them to do it. Why would we not want this? -Hank

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