ISP rewrites DNS Suspected that the user was forcibly forced to look for advertisements of its products


By dkpto

An American Internet service provider (ISP) CenturyLink providing Internet environment for general users suspected that DNS spoofing was done to rewrite DNS in order to notify users of the filtering service offered by their company It is strengthening.

CenturyLink is blocking its customers' internet while saying Utah legislators told them to - RichSnapp.com
https://www.richsnapp.com/blog/2018/12-13-centurylink-blocking-internet-in-utah

It was Rich Snap , a software engineer living in Utah, USA, that made this matter widely available. One day, when I was watching TV with Amazon Fire TV at home, I heard that suddenly I did not see anything on the screen. Though thinking whether a bug occurred, Snap tried all coping methods, but communication did not recover all the way. There was no choice but to start up the computer and check the situation, but still the network environment at the home contracted with CenturyLink remained broken.

Ultimately, when I tried to retrieve my smartphone and search what is going on Google search, I heard that the following notification was displayed on the screen. The screen is of the same style as the official page of CenturyLink which provides the net environment to Mr. Snap's home, and it is titled "Why is this screen displayed on the customer's terminal?" Snap saw that it was "strange" while reading the text and tapping "OK" at the end, it seems that it became possible to use the net again.



In the body of the page, "Utah state authorities request that CenturyLink will inform you about the filtering software you can use.This software can block materials that you believe to be harmful to minors You can create a link to the filtering service "@ Ease" provided by CenturyLink along with a message saying "You can do it."



The listed @ Ease is a service that is provided for $ 9.99 to $ 19.99 per month (about 1150 yen to 2300 yen). Although free plans are also prepared, it is actually a lineup that seems to be the most realistic plan with a monthly charge of $ 14.99 (about 1700 yen).

CenturyLink | @ Ease Computer Support and Identity Theft Protection.
https://www.centurylink.com/home/ease/



In other words, what was displayed on Snap's terminal was the advertisement of @ Ease, and that was due to the compelling means of "you can not use the net unless you browse it." "In short it is not advertising!" Snap, who felt anger, posted on Twitter about the incident on CenturyLink's message screen. Beyond being a brute force advertisement, I point out that this screen is displayed by DNS spoofing which rewrites DNS and disguises it.


Mr. Snap also checks to see if anyone is encountering the same phenomenon on Twitter. Then it seems that it turned out that there are multiple tweets as follows.


In addition, it turns out that reddit is threaded. People who report similar events also continue to the thread "Are you a CenturyLink user and have not connected the net until you read the filtering message?"

Any century link customers lose internet until you read the filter message?: SaltLakeCity
https://www.reddit.com/r/SaltLakeCity/comments/a4csu8/any_century_link_customers_lose_internet_until/



A reddit user points out that there is state law in Utah State in the background of this incident. Based on the provisions of the State Law Amendment SB 0134 that obliges ISPs to inform ISPs of materials such as services that can block harmful contents by 30th December 2018, CenturyLink has advertised in a brute force manner It is analyzing it.

Mr. Snap convinced the analysis, but expressed the idea that I can not agree with the action taken by CenturyLink at all. In particular, DNS spoofing, which rewrites DNS information in some way to guide users to sites that they do not intend, is considered an ethically problematic act, and CenturyLink took such a method I insisted that it is a problem. Also, although this screen can be checked with a smartphone, it is not displayed when using a streaming device such as Fire TV or Chromecast, and users are forced to set a situation where users can not grasp what is going on I point out.

Mr. Snap inquired to the Todd-Weiler State Parliamentarian, who drafted the amendment, whether the proposed amendment was intended for an act like CenturyLink.


Then, from Wheeler 's lawmakers, "SB 134 did not request such actions, and ISPs who did similar actions do not exist" has been responded. Also, the revised plan also stated that it was a notice by e-mail, a method of attaching announcement texts to invoices sent to users, and so on.


In other words, this incident can be said to have announced its own product by using provisions of state law, but it is a big minus for CenturyLink that DNS spoofing which is said to be ethically problematic is strongly suspected There is a possibility that it became. According to Mr. Snap, CenturyLink did not give a satisfactory answer about this case, he said he was answering "It was done automatically by a bot serving customer service". At the time of writing the article did not appear to have announced statements on this matter on the CenturyLink official website and so on.

Home & Business Internet, Phone, and TV | CenturyLink
http://news.centurylink.com/

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