__=$(exec sed -n '/^4.31.198.44 /!d;=;q' /etc/hosts);
test ${#__} -gt 0||
echo 4.31.198.44 www.ietf.org >> /etc/hosts
Avast, NFOrce, etc. can update their BGP routing information with a routing registry probably by just sending an email with some authentication details. Apparently the veracity of provided information is not checked. The information then gets propagated to a shared routing registry database offered to the public for free by a handful of registries via WHOIS.
The blog author suggests that the inaccuracies in Maxmind may originate from fake information in WHOIS.
http://www.eecs.qmul.ac.uk/~steve/papers/geolocation-ccr-11....
This paper discusses accuracy of GeoIP databases. It concludes they are between 96-98% accurate at the country-level. Maybe the database compilers would use delay measurement for the 2-4% if the inaccuracies follow some pattern, e.g. they are consitently associated with particular countries. Maybe they already use this method. I don't know.
The IP addresses in the blog, and the idea of fake VPN exit nodes, were discussed previously: http://blog.trendmicro.com/trendlabs-security-intelligence/a...