Connect with us

Hi, what are you looking for?

World

Google says Turkey intercepting its Web domain

-

Google says Turkey has been intercepting its Internet domain, redirecting users to other sites in the latest battle between Ankara and Web giants.

In a weekend post on Google's security blog, software engineer Steven Carstensen said the company has received "several credible reports and confirmed with our own research that Google's Domain Name System (DNS) service has been intercepted by most Turkish ISPs (Internet Service Providers)."

Carstensen said the DNS server "tells your computer the address of a server it's looking for, in the same way that you might look up a phone number in a phone book."

"Imagine if someone had changed out your phone book with another one, which looks pretty much the same as before, except that the listings for a few people showed the wrong phone number," he added.

A man is seen through waving Turkish flags as supporters of Turkey's main opposition Republican...
A man is seen through waving Turkish flags as supporters of Turkey's main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) take part in an election rally at Kadikoy in Istanbul on March 29, 2014
Bulent Kilic, AFP

"That's essentially what's happened: Turkish ISPs have set up servers that masquerade as Google's DNS service."

The news came just days after Turkey banned YouTube after the Google-owned video-sharing website was used to spread damaging leaked audio files from a state security meeting debating possible military action in Syria.

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan angrily lashed out at his political opponents for leaking the recording.

Earlier this month, Turkey's telecommunications authority blocked access to the US social network Twitter under orders from Erdogan after opposition members used it to post telephone recordings implicating him in a major corruption scandal.

Google says Turkey has been intercepting its Internet domain, redirecting users to other sites in the latest battle between Ankara and Web giants.

In a weekend post on Google’s security blog, software engineer Steven Carstensen said the company has received “several credible reports and confirmed with our own research that Google’s Domain Name System (DNS) service has been intercepted by most Turkish ISPs (Internet Service Providers).”

Carstensen said the DNS server “tells your computer the address of a server it’s looking for, in the same way that you might look up a phone number in a phone book.”

“Imagine if someone had changed out your phone book with another one, which looks pretty much the same as before, except that the listings for a few people showed the wrong phone number,” he added.

A man is seen through waving Turkish flags as supporters of Turkey's main opposition Republican...

A man is seen through waving Turkish flags as supporters of Turkey's main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) take part in an election rally at Kadikoy in Istanbul on March 29, 2014
Bulent Kilic, AFP

“That’s essentially what’s happened: Turkish ISPs have set up servers that masquerade as Google’s DNS service.”

The news came just days after Turkey banned YouTube after the Google-owned video-sharing website was used to spread damaging leaked audio files from a state security meeting debating possible military action in Syria.

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan angrily lashed out at his political opponents for leaking the recording.

Earlier this month, Turkey’s telecommunications authority blocked access to the US social network Twitter under orders from Erdogan after opposition members used it to post telephone recordings implicating him in a major corruption scandal.

AFP
Written By

With 2,400 staff representing 100 different nationalities, AFP covers the world as a leading global news agency. AFP provides fast, comprehensive and verified coverage of the issues affecting our daily lives.

You may also like:

World

Calling for urgent action is the international medical humanitarian organization Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF)

Business

The cathedral is on track to reopen on December 8 - Copyright AFP Ludovic MARINParis’s Notre-Dame Cathedral, ravaged by fire in 2019, is on...

Business

Saudi Aramco President & CEO Amin Nasser speaks during the CERAWeek oil summit in Houston, Texas - Copyright AFP Mark FelixPointing to the still...

Sports

The warning from the French Cybersecurity Agency (ANSSI), comes amid strained diplomatic relations between France and Russia.