The hack that would have ruined the internet

This 26 year old discovered a hack that would have destroyed the internet. It’s a fascinating read, even my wife was interested in it when I started telling her about it.

His path started with trying to get free wifi at Starbucks.

He remembered that he had gotten into Starbucks’ locked network using the domain name system, or DNS. When someone types google .com into a browser, DNS has a list of exactly where Google’s servers are and directs the traffic to them. It’s like directory assistance for the Internet. At Starbucks, the port for the low-bandwidth DNS connection—port 53—was left open to route customers to the Pay for Starbucks Wi-Fi Web page. So, rather than pay, Kaminsky used port 53 to access the open DNS connection and get online. It was free but super-slow, and his friends mocked him mercilessly.

It’s a good read. Check it out.