Have you ever blocked a domain to protect yourself from a threat and ended up accidentally blocking thousands of legitimate users sharing that same infrastructure? This frequently happens when applying blocking rules on shared platforms, such as hosting providers, dynamic DNS (DDNS) services, or file-sharing platforms.
To solve this problem, IMDEA Software researchers Daud Ahmed, Juan Caballero, and Srdjan Matic, together with Platon Kotzias and Emiliano Carlesi (BforeAI), proposed a novel method presented in their paper “BlockMeNot”. In it, they address in detail how to determine the exact blocking boundary. The developed system automatically evaluates and decides whether the restriction should be applied at the URL, subdomain, or domain level, effectively reducing both overblocking and underblocking.
Thanks to its applicability, the paper “BlockMeNot” was a runner-up at the USENIX Security symposium. The event, which represents one of the premier international conferences in cybersecurity research, took place from August 12 to 14 in Baltimore (USA).
At IMDEA Software, we are very proud that research like this receives international recognition, encouraging our researchers to keep innovating to improve the software of the future.
