* * * * *

                       Mysterious packets in the night

For about a decade [1], I've been monitoring syslog traffic [2] in real time
[3]. It makes for an interesting background screen. For instance, I've
noticed over the years Mac OS-X getting more and more paranoid about running
executables. that one UPS (Uninterruptable Power Supply) needs a new battery,
and just how many DNS (Domain Name Service) requests Firefox makes [4]. Just
stuff I notice out of the corner of my eye.

So it was rather alarming when I just saw the following pop out:

-----[ data ]-----
iTunes  tcp_connection_destination_perform_socket_connect 140 connectx to 2600:1403:b:19a::2a1.443@0 failed: [65] No route to host
iTunes  tcp_connection_destination_perform_socket_connect 140 connectx to 2600:1403:b:1a8::2a1.443@0 failed: [65] No route to host
iTunes  tcp_connection_destination_perform_socket_connect 140 connectx to 2600:1403:b:1ab::2a1.443@0 failed: [65] No route to host
iTunes  tcp_connection_destination_perform_socket_connect 140 connectx to 2600:1403:b:1ac::2a1.443@0 failed: [65] No route to host
iTunes  tcp_connection_destination_perform_socket_connect 140 connectx to 2600:1403:b:185::2a1.443@0 failed: [65] No route to host
iTunes  tcp_connection_destination_perform_socket_connect 141 connectx to 2600:1403:b:1ac::2a1.443@0 failed: [65] No route to host
iTunes  tcp_connection_destination_perform_socket_connect 141 connectx to 2600:1403:b:185::2a1.443@0 failed: [65] No route to host
iTunes  tcp_connection_destination_perform_socket_connect 141 connectx to 2600:1403:b:19a::2a1.443@0 failed: [65] No route to host
iTunes  tcp_connection_destination_perform_socket_connect 141 connectx to 2600:1403:b:1a8::2a1.443@0 failed: [65] No route to host
iTunes  tcp_connection_destination_perform_socket_connect 141 connectx to 2600:1403:b:1ab::2a1.443@0 failed: [65] No route to host
iTunes  tcp_connection_destination_perform_socket_connect 143 connectx to 2600:1403:b:188::2a1.443@0 failed: [65] No route to host
iTunes  tcp_connection_destination_perform_socket_connect 143 connectx to 2600:1403:b:18c::2a1.443@0 failed: [65] No route to host
iTunes  tcp_connection_destination_perform_socket_connect 143 connectx to 2600:1403:b:18d::2a1.443@0 failed: [65] No route to host
iTunes  tcp_connection_destination_perform_socket_connect 143 connectx to 2600:1403:b:1a1::2a1.443@0 failed: [65] No route to host
iTunes  tcp_connection_destination_perform_socket_connect 143 connectx to 2600:1403:b:1ad::2a1.443@0 failed: [65] No route to host
-----[ END OF LINE ]-----

Now, I have IPv6 (Internet Protocol Version 6) enabled on my Mac to play
around with the technology, but my main connection out to the Intarwebs is
still plain IPv4 (Internet Protocol Version 4). So that explains the error.
But the question is why is iTunes trying to connect to some machine on the
Intarwebs? I have iTunes running, but doing nothing at the moment.

So then I look into that IPv6 address. First, it's assigned to Europe, which
is odd, because I'm not in Europe. Second, it seems it belongs to Akamai
Technologies [5]. So the bigger question now is, what is iTunes trying to get
from Europe? Is my computer trying to snitch on me? Checking for updates? Is
iTunes feeling neglected?

I don't know … and that is bothering me.

[1] gopher://gopher.conman.org/0Phlog:2010/02/09.1
[2] https://github.com/spc476/syslogintr
[3] https://github.com/spc476/syslogintr/blob/master/realtime.lua
[4] gopher://gopher.conman.org/0Phlog:2019/10/17.1
[5] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Akamai_Technologies

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