MD TECH
Research and engineering
Engineering notes on how the internet really works, and how to build technology that respects the people on it.
ENGINEERING NOTES
Written by the people building it.
This section will hold engineering notes rather than formal academic papers: practical investigations into the systems behind privacy, security and connectivity. They exist to show our thinking in the open, and to be useful to anyone working on similar problems.
Each note opens on its own page. We will keep adding to them as we learn more.
Understanding DNS as a control layer
Every connection starts with a name lookup. That makes DNS one of the most effective places to apply privacy and security policy, and one of the easiest to overestimate.
Read note PUBLISHED · 6 MIN READHow application-aware network enforcement works
Blocking a website is not the same as controlling an app. Here is why per-app rules need a different vantage point, and what makes them hard to get right.
Read note PUBLISHED · 6 MIN READDesigning resilient network recovery
Connections fail in ordinary, everyday ways. A resilient system notices, responds sensibly and tells the truth about what it is doing.
Read note PUBLISHED · 7 MIN READWhat actually happens when an internet connection fails?
A connection can break at many points between a device and a server. Working through them in order shows how failures can be told apart.
Read note PUBLISHED · 6 MIN READBuilding privacy infrastructure on constrained devices
Protection only works if it stays on. On a phone, that means working inside tight limits on battery, memory and background activity.
Read note