Internet background noise

Internet background noise (IBN, also known as Internet background radiation, by analogy with natural

ports where there is no network device set up to receive them. Network telescopes

observe the Internet background radiation.

These packets often contain unsolicited commercial or

Smaller devices such as

hard-coded IP address to look up the correct time using the Network Time Protocol. If, for some reason, the hard-coded NTP server is no longer available, faulty software might retry failed requests up to every second, which, if many devices are affected, generates a significant amount of unnecessary request traffic

.

Historical context

In the first 10 years of the Internet, there was very little background noise but with its commercialization in the 1990s the noise factor became a permanent feature.

The Conficker worm was responsible in 2010^[1] for a large amount of background noise generated by viruses looking for new victims. In addition to malicious activities, misconfigured hardware and leaks from private networks are also sources of background noise.^[2]

2000s

As of November 2010, it is estimated that 5.5 gigabits (687.5 megabytes) of background noise are generated every second.^[3]

It was also estimated in the early 2000s that a dial-up modem user loses about 20 bits per second of their

scan ports and also limit the impact of misconfigured equipment.^[3]

Internet background noise has been used to detect significant changes in Internet traffic and connectivity during the

geolocated to Libya.^[5]

DDoS attack using multiple spoofed addresses.^[6] This noise is used by network telescopes

to indirectly observe large scale attacks in real time.

References

^ "ISP Column - October 2019". www.potaroo.net. Retrieved 2023-11-28.
^ "Internet Background Radiation Revisited" (PDF). Internet Measurement Conference. November 2010.
^ ^a ^b Ward, Mark (30 November 2010). "Tuning in to the background hum of the net". BBC News.
^ Orlowski, Andrew (27 November 2003). "Watching the Net's background radiation". The Register.
^ Aben, Emile (23 March 2011). "Unsolicited Internet Traffic from Libya". RIPE NCC. Retrieved 30 April 2011.
^ Moore et al. Inferring Internet Denial-of-Service Activity, 2001

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[1] "ISP Column - October 2019". www.potaroo.net. Retrieved 2023-11-28.

[2] "Internet Background Radiation Revisited" (PDF). Internet Measurement Conference. November 2010.

[bbc-3] Ward, Mark (30 November 2010). "Tuning in to the background hum of the net". BBC News.

[4] Orlowski, Andrew (27 November 2003). "Watching the Net's background radiation". The Register.

[5] Aben, Emile (23 March 2011). "Unsolicited Internet Traffic from Libya". RIPE NCC. Retrieved 30 April 2011.

[6] Moore et al. Inferring Internet Denial-of-Service Activity, 2001

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