Black Hat: Dan Kaminsky tackles net neutrality with n00ter

LAS VEGAS: Network security expert Dan Kaminsky has unveiled a tool at the Black Hat conference which promises to expose ISPs that filter traffic.

The 'n00ter' software uses a variation of a virtual private network to hide the source of traffic from a service provider. This allows researchers to detect any variations in speed being caused by service providers.

Kaminsky explained that n00ter is designed to catch the more subtle variations in traffic speed which can be difficult to detect. Should an ISP make a deal with one site or service to deliberately slow the traffic of a competitor, n00ter will root out the bias.

The tool is scheduled to be released in the next few weeks, and Kaminsky hopes that it will convince ISPs not to bias traffic in the first place.

"I'm not out to bust anybody. At this point I'm simply putting out the word that you should not be doing anything you do not want on the front page of the newspaper tomorrow morning," Kaminsky said.

The release of n00ter comes as governments around the world debate network neutrality.

Proponents argue that legislation would stop service providers throttling certain types of traffic to serve their own interests, while opponents argue that it amounts to a government power grab of the telecoms industry.

Kaminsky believes that the issue is not one of politics but of engineering, arguing that legislators need to know what service providers are currently doing to effectively rule on the matter.

"If bad things are going to happen, let them happen visibly and transparently. I am just here to provide the data," said Kaminsky.