Analysis of DNS Dependencies and their Security Implications in Australia: A Comparative Study of General and Indigenous Populations

Abstract

This paper investigates the impact of internet centralization on DNS provisioning, particularly its effects on vulnerable populations such as the indigenous people of Australia. We analyze the DNS dependencies of Australian government domains that serve indigenous communities compared to those serving the general population. Our study categorizes DNS providers into leading (hyperscaler, US-headquartered companies), non-leading (smaller Australian-headquartered or non-Australian companies), and Australian government-hosted providers. Then, we build dependency graphs to demonstrate the direct dependency between Australian government domains and their DNS providers and the indirect dependency involving further layers of providers. Additionally, we conduct an IP location analysis of DNS providers to map out the geographical distribution of DNS servers, revealing the extent of centralization on DNS services within or outside of Australia. Finally, we introduce an attacker model to categorize potential cyber attackers based on their intentions and resources. By considering attacker models and DNS dependency results, we discuss the security vulnerability of each population group against any group of attackers and analyze whether the current setup of the DNS services of Australian government services contributes to a digital divide.