Homeland Security Wants Net's Uber Security Key

Slashdot and Germany's Heiss Online are reporting some interesting news concerning the Internet and the US Department of Homeland Security.

The annual meeting of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, just wrapped up in Lisbon, Portugal. Heiss reports that at the meeting, Canadian Internet Registration Authority president Bernard Turcotte raised the concerns of himself and fellow managers about attempts by the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to obtain the master key for the DNS root zone.

The electronic key is in effect the ultimate master key for the Internet. It's a security 'key' that signs zone keys, which are held by VeriSign, Inc. Whoever has it can track DNS Security Extensions (DNSSec) all the way back to the servers that represent the name system's root zone on the Internet. If addresses have been 'spoofed' - in other words faked - this allows them to find out who actually posted what and where they are. Internet authorities have been trying to decide who will be entrusted with keeping this very special security key safe.

According to Heisse, Turcotte told them the national registries had informed their governmental representatives about Homeland Security's intentions to obtain control of the uberkey. A European Commission rep said they are discussing the development with EU member states.