[mat-wg] [Fwd: Community suggestion for ATLAS spoof test]

Daniel Karrenberg wrote on 5/16/13 1:13 AM:
> 
> I know that you intend to limit the risk by restricting source
> addresses and of course by getting consent of the probe hosts. I am
> just afraid that even asking the question will make some hosts doubt
> that we will not harm their networks and their connectivity. 

I understand this concern. But IMO the trust in Atlas probes comes from
the way classes of the  experiments (and their capabilities) are vetted
and agreed, its transparency in particular. I don't think we have a
problem here.

The evilness of IP-spoofing comes from the ability to spoof traffic to
mount a reflector attack. Not sure how "illegal" IP-spoofing is per se.
In this respect I don't see how a controlled spoofer test is much
different from a ping test. Probably, it is a bit more homeopathic.

> All I am asking is that we not blindly charge ahead with an
> experiment that we all find exciting and useful before we have fully
> considered the risks and we have a clear consensus that the result is
> worth the risk. For this we need to evaluate the potential result
> too. For instance it is important to know the distribution of probes
> that are not NATed. We also have to consider alternative, less risky
> methods the achieve the result.
> 

Without credible data I don't see how we can increase peer pressure and
accountability. And without that - how to address the problem. So I
think the value of such data collection is high.

But the devil is in the details. Perhaps we can start describing the
experiment in more concrete terms. What would be the best way to do this?

Andrei