Why threaten a network’s IP addresses in a phishing email?
A forged RIPE NCC message exposes a deeper concern: the fear of losing the addresses a working network depends on.
Lu Heng · Original recording in English
A suspicious email is easier to dismiss when it threatens nothing you need. But what if it claims your network could lose the IP addresses your customers already use? That is the fear Lu Heng examines in this 2024 recording.
IP addresses let devices connect across networks. RIPE NCC is one of the regional bodies that registers and distributes Internet number resources. Its 2024 phishing alert warned of messages impersonating its compliance team and directing recipients to a malicious attachment.
Watch the argument
The messages were an impersonation. Lu Heng’s wider question is why the prospect of losing addresses gives that impersonation leverage. For an operator, the possible cost includes disruption to customers, servers and services already running.
What would give the operator a real choice?
Lu Heng later proposes that a working network should be protected from registry discretion and able to move its resources elsewhere if its registry fails or abuses its position. Note 72 develops those rights. His portability recording explores what a usable exit would mean.