On 2/9/22 07:32, Matthew Walster wrote:


Do a DNS query. You don't even have to randomise the id number, just query for something that will have a small set of results (so, not the root) and ensure checking is disabled. For 8.8.8.8, I'm guessing "dns.google" is probably an excellent target.

If you wanted something generic, what about a PTR query for something in 10/8, directed at the AS112 project? That's pretty much the sinkhole that expects that kind of unwanted traffic...

I bet that within a gnat's crotchet you'll find systemd has adopted that as a special "liveness" command or something. </snark>

Not a serious problem for you and me, who are operators that know how to do this and understand it well.

For Jane, down the road, who doesn't care and just wants her MTV, she's not interested in what a DNS query is. All she is know is the tech-support on the other end of the horn asked her to "ping 8.8.8.8".

Mark.