14 DAY TRIAL // In their quest to track down cybercriminals, fraudsters and even terrorists, law enforcement agencies often need to know who is hiding behind a certain Internet Protocol (IP) address. However, it turns out that some of them don’t know who they must contact to find out.
According to a report released by Réseaux IP Européens Network Coordination Centre (RIPE NCC) earlier this week, there are some law enforcement agencies that have no clue how the Internet works.
In 2012, the organization received 21 requests from law enforcement agencies either for data that the RIPE NCC did not possess, or for information that was already publicly available.
RIPE NCC is the Regional Internet Registry (RIR) for Europe, the Middle East and some parts of Central Asia. The RIR oversees the allocation and registration of IP addresses and Autonomous System (AS) Numbers.
However, the organization caters mainly to ISPs, telecoms companies, educational institutions, governments, large corporations and regulatory agencies, and it’s not responsible for knowing the identity of the individuals who utilize each IP address.
Apparently, at least one law enforcement agency doesn’t know this, because it has requested the identification of Internet users of a private IP address.
In addition, 16 requests were made for the identification of Internet users at a particular moment in time. Two information requests were made last year for the identification of the organization responsible for particular resources.
Request related to a domain name seizure and a European arrest order were also made.
In each of these cases, the registry was forced to explain its role and clarify certain technical aspects.
So who made the absurd requests?
Eight of the requests came from the United States, four from Germany, two from India, two from the UK, and one each from Spain, France, Norway, the Netherlands and Poland.