Amazon Fire TV stick contacting DoD

[MtnMan]

Updated my Synology RT2600 router today and the new update includes increased security with "Safe Access" which among other controls also blocks dangerous websites. The database integrates Google Safe Browsing and the Threat Intelligence database.

When I went to watch something on Amazon through my Amazon Fire TV stick, I got a notification that Safe Access had blocked an IP address for security reasons. Searching on the IP, it turns out that the ISP is "US Department of Defense Network" and the geolocation is in Wasilla Alaska.

Well I was using it to access a spy series that had been on the FX network called "The Americans", about embedded Russian spy's in this country.

 

[Genx87]

What is the network IP it was trying to connect? I will check my Sophos tonight and see if my fireboxes dial up the DoD as well. If true nothing surprises me anymore.

 

[Rifter]

Yeah... you will be surprised what some software is trying to connect to. Since setting up my pfsense box ive become much more concerned with traffic leaving my network than with traffic entering my network.

 

[Mr Evil]

The US military run a number of innocuous public services, such as NTP servers. If you want to be really sure if it's something more worrisome, you could use Wireshark to analyse the data being sent.

 

[mxnerd]

IP Geolocation database is not always correct.

==

Do Not Scan This IP Address Ranges, most likely government ip ranges.

https://www.hacking-tutorial.com/tips-and-trick/do-not-scan-this-ip-address-ranges/#sthash.EAEpSSfA.dpbs

 

[MtnMan]

What is the network IP it was trying to connect? I will check my Sophos tonight and see if my fireboxes dial up the DoD as well. If true nothing surprises me anymore.

It was 52.1.109.222

 

[mxnerd]

It's Amazon

https://www.google.com/search?source=hp&ei=HGvHW52IKYC80PEPvdKdwAI&q=52.1.109.222

==

C:\Windows\system32>tracert 52.1.109.222

Tracing route to ec2-52-1-109-222.compute-1.amazonaws.com [52.1.109.222]

==

https://www.iplocation.net/ think it's located in Ashburn, Virginia.

Using several IP Geolocation databases.

==
How accurate is IP-based Geolocation Lookup?

https://www.iplocation.net/geolocation-accuracy

Rough measure of geolocation accuracy

• Country: 95% to 99% accuracy
• Region (State): 55% to 80% accuracy
• City:50% to 75% accuracy

==

I live in California. When my network is down (my ISP is Charter) for a long enough time,

sometimes Charter will assign me an IP address that's located in Missouri according to IP geolocation database when the network came back!

 

[mnewsham]

That's just what they WANT you to think.

 

[mxnerd]

Well, actually Amazon Web Services (AWS) publishes it's IP ranges here. (probably not all)

https://docs.aws.amazon.com/general/latest/gr/aws-ip-ranges.html#aws-ip-download

https://ip-ranges.amazonaws.com/ip-ranges.json

==

DoD does have some services hosting at Amazon. Maybe that's why some databases/apps think the IP addresses come from DoD.

https://www.cnn.com/2018/10/15/tech/jeff-bezos-wired/index.html

 

[JackMDS]

If One would study well the frequent Updates of many Apps and programs. One would find that most of them are basically New ""Updates"" in augmenting the capacity of the Apps' Code to connect from the App/Program to Internet and provide info about the content of One's system.

Want to see some of it? Download this portable freeware - https://www.nirsoft.net/utils/cports.html

Start your browser and few of you favorite Apps/Program and look of what is connecting.

Another phenomenon is established software houses buying favorite freewares keep offering them as freeware but loading the code with new "Features" of calling Home.

I just noticed that one of my favorite App grew up in size by 50% after the last Update and their is No apparent change in the Looks and functions of the Apps. The only change is that a known security house bought it and its calling home more frequent than before.
---------------------------------

The Funny thing about it is that the "Crazed obsession" of Enthusiasts with frequent Updates is actualy used against them.