ICSI Netalyzr launch #2

[vern]

Folks, you may recall that last June we released a beta version of Netalyzr,
a Java applet you can run by surfing to netalyzr.icsi.berkeley.edu (or to
netalyzr.com).  It measures a bunch of the properties of an end user's
network access, particularly looking for transparent modifications (e.g.,
hidden proxies or blocking), connectivity restrictions, DNS modifications,
and some security issues (e.g., whether the DNS resolver is vulnerable to
the Kaminsky attack).  You can see a sample report at:

http://netalyzr.icsi.berkeley.edu/restore/id=example-session

That launch was fairly successful (~50K users).  Since then we've been
working on a bunch of improvements, and today we've gone out of beta with
an updated version, so you may be hearing about reports your customers
have gotten from it.

Also, as Netalyzr forms the foundation for a large-scale measurement
study of the Internet's edge, to the degree that you pass along the word
so that more people run it, that would be highly helpful with us gathering
comprehensive data for the project.

Thanks,

    Vern

Vern Paxson
Associate Professor
EECS Department
737 Soda Hall - MC 1776
University of California
Berkeley, CA, USA  94720-1776
+1 510 643-4209
v...@eecs.berkeley.edu

ICSI Netalyzr launch

[vern]

Folks, you might be interested in checking out a network monitoring
tool we launched today, Netalyzr.  It's a Java applet you can run by
surfing to netalyzr.com.  It aims to measure a bunch of the properties of
and end user's network access, particularly looking for transparent
modifications (e.g., hidden proxies), connectivity restrictions, and some
security issues (e.g., whether the DNS resolver is vulnerable to the
Kaminsky attack).

We've had several thousand users run it today so far, so you may be hearing
about reports your customers have gotten from it.  You can see a sample
report at:

http://netalyzr.icsi.berkeley.edu/restore/id=example-session

- Vern

Re: ICSI Netalyzr launch

[vern]

> didn't want to spring for a cert for that eh? www.startssl.com ... hey
> lookie! free certs!

?  We bought a cert from Thawte specifically so people wouldn't find that
it's suspect.  Does it look funny when your browser presents it to you?

Vern

Re: passive bandwidth estimation

[vern]

> > Any idea how can one do bandwidth measurement based on this?
> 
> vern paxson did extensive work in this area.  van jacobson too.

For more recent work, see the papers of Constantine Dovrolis.  (Likely
others, too, but that's the work that comes immediately to mind.)

    Vern