A consulting group (DNK LLC) report to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security stated clearly that the problems of who would own the DNSSEC keys and mistrust of the U.S. government's intentions could be barriers to DNSSEC deployment. While the August 2006 report covers developments only from March 2005 to July 2006, it makes two important points that are relevant and timely today. First it makes clear, if it weren't already, that the issue of root signing and key management has been recognized as a political issue for long time. It also offers some interesting insights on how DHS has approached the politics of DNSSEC and Internet security.

In developing the government's message about DNSSEC, DNK clearly identified barriers to adoption across several relevant interest groups, including the Internet community, the private sector, other governments and public sector actors, consumers/end users, and the media. Tellingly, "ownership of DNSSEC keys and registration" and "trust in government's [i.e., the USG] intention" were specifically identified as potential tripping points across many of the groups.   more »