Four times a year, a small group of people fly to a secure facility in either Virginia or California. They submit to retina scanners and palm readers. They enter a metal cage in a signal-proof room. They turn keys in unison.
These people are volunteers, and they're there to perform a ritual to secure the internet's core directory.
If you build a master key for the internet, who do you trust to hold it?
In this episode
Episode Music
Additional Notes
This episode is the follow-up to "Poison in the Cache."
If you want to see this ritual for yourself, you can. The root signing relies on radical transparency, so every step is shared. The list of ceremonies is available via the IANA along with the full list of Crypto Officers.
Additional Reading
Internet Assigned Numbers Authority. (2026, February 10). Root Zone KSK ceremony 60 annotated script [Ceremony script]. https://data.iana.org/ksk-ceremony/60/AT60_Annotated_Script.pdf
Internet Hall of Fame. (2014, March 25). Our online safety is protected by one "stubborn lady." https://www.internethalloffame.org/2014/03/25/our-online-safety-protected-one-stubborn-lady/
McCarthy, K. (2020, February 13). Internet's safe-keepers forced to postpone crucial DNSSEC root key signing ceremony. The Register. https://www.theregister.com/2020/02/13/iana_dnssec_ksk_delay/
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Lore in the Machine is a narrative technology podcast about the forgotten history of computing, software, and the internet. Hosted by Daina Bouquin, each episode uncovers the true story behind a piece of computer history. These are the forgotten people, decisions, and accidents that quietly shaped the digital world.
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