Colin Perkins

@csperkins
306 Followers
308 Following
405 Posts
Computer networking research and Internet standards. Professor in the School of Computing Science at the University of Glasgow. Long-time IETF participant. Former chair of the IRTF. Personal views only. 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🇪🇺
Personal Websitehttps://csperkins.org
University of Glasgowhttps://www.gla.ac.uk/schools/computing/staff/colinperkins
Orcidhttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-3404-8964
GitHubhttps://github.com/csperkins
Colin PerkinsMay 16
DNS-OARCMay 16

At #OARC46, Elizabeth Boswell of the University of Glasgow will examine the security and privacy assumptions behind AS112’s volunteer-run, uncoordinated anycast model. Her presentation will share preliminary findings from 2025 @dnsoarc Day in the Life query log analysis, including traffic that could potentially be misused by a malicious operator.

“Another Man’s Treasure: Security and Privacy Risks of Junk DNS Queries”
Saturday, 16 May 2026
12:00 BST (Edinburgh) / 11:00 UTC

#LoveDNS ^RP

Show threadColin PerkinsMay 15
And, in case that wasn’t enough, she’ll give a preview of her work during the Scottish Networking Event (SCONE) this afternoon https://scone.cs.st-andrews.ac.uk/meetings/scone-meeting-15-05-2026/
SCONE meeting 15-05-2026 – The SCOttish Networking Event (SCONE)

Show threadColin PerkinsMay 15
Elizabeth will also be talking about her follow-on work “Another Man’s Treasure: Security and Privacy Risks of Junk DNS Queries” during the DNS-OARC meeting in Edinburgh tomorrow https://indico.dns-oarc.net/event/56/
OARC 46

OARC 46 will be a hybrid in-person and online workshop. The workshop will be held in Edinburgh, Scotland on May 16-17th, 2026 DNS-OARC is a non-profit, membership organization that seeks to improve the security, stability, and understanding of the Internet's DNS infrastructure. Part of these aims are achieved through workshops. DNS-OARC Workshops are open to OARC members and to all other parties interested in DNS operations and research. Workshop Schedule: May 15: (evening) Mentor Mingle for...

DNS-OARC (Indico)
Colin PerkinsMay 15
If you’re in Edinburgh for the #RIPE92 meeting next week, look out for my PhD student Elizabeth Boswell, who will be presenting her work on “Black Holes and Prisoners: Understanding AS112 Deployment Characteristics”, from PAM2026, during the DNS session on Thursday 21 May https://csperkins.org/publications/2026/03/boswell2026black-holes/
Colin Perkins : Publications : Black Holes and Prisoners: Understanding AS112 Deployment Characteristics

Colin PerkinsMay 9
“The Intolerable Hypocrisy of Cyberlibertarianism” – on the early Internet, and things that should have been clear at the time, if only we knew then what we know now https://matduggan.com/the-intolerable-hypocrisy-of-cyberlibertarianism/
The Intolerable Hypocrisy of Cyberlibertarianism

I like the Internet. I am old enough to remember the pre-Internet era and despite the younger generations pining for those simpler days, I was there. Paper maps were absolutely horrible, just you and a compass in your car on the side of the road in the middle of the

matduggan.com
Colin PerkinsMay 7
Vote early (well, err, vote!), vote often
Colin PerkinsMay 6
We've submitted "Analysing Internet Standards Development Organisation Data" to the IRTF, highlighting some issues to consider when studying data relating to the Internet standards development ecosystem – feedback welcome! https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/draft-perkins-analysing-sdo-data/
Analysing Internet Standards Development Organisation Data

This document outlines some issues to consider when studying data relating to the Internet standards development ecosystem. It identifies observable components of standards development processes, proposes a taxonomy of possible measurements, and highlights methodological, interpretive, and ethical considerations. It is intended to support a range of uses, including monitoring standards development organisations (SDOs), evaluating the evolution of technical work, understanding technology deployment, and informing community, leadership, and governance discussions. This document is submitted for consideration by the Research and Analysis of Standard-Setting Processes Research Group (RASPRG) in the IRTF. It is not an IETF product and is not a standard.

IETF Datatracker
Colin PerkinsMay 4

RE: https://mefi.social/@MissConstrue/116501419475132635

“People talk a lot about the protocols that power Bluesky vs. ActivityPub, because we're nerds and we believe deep in our hearts that the superior protocol will win. This is adorable. It flies in the face of literally all of human history, where the more convenient thing always wins regardless of technical merit…”

Colin PerkinsApr 24
Christian Lawson-PerfectApr 24

The accessibility checklist for academic conferences and events that I had a hand in producing now has its own proper address, not under my staff webspace:

https://accessible-events.ncl.ac.uk/

If you work at a university and you're planning any sort of gathering of people, please have a look at it. It contains practical advice about how to make sure people of all sorts are included and able to take part in your event.

#accessibility

Accessible conferences and events project - Project overview

Colin PerkinsApr 22
Dan YorkApr 22

As we celebrate Earth Day 2026, what is the technical community—the people who actually build and operate the Internet—doing about climate concerns and environmental sustainability?

Today I wrote on the @internetsociety blog about two groups working within the Internet Engineering Task Force ( #IETF ) and the Internet Research Task Force ( #IRTF ) to look at some of these topics...
https://www.internetsociety.org/blog/2026/04/climate-and-environmental-sustainability-within-the-ietf-and-irtf/

#EarthDay #EarthDay2026 #Climate #ClimateChange #Sustainability

Climate and Environmental Sustainability Within the IETF and IRTF - Internet Society

As we celebrate Earth Day 2026, what is the technical community doing about climate and environmental sustainability?

Internet Society