Internet2: Network Routing Security and RPKI Adoption in Research and Education
Grush: What actions are network operators able to take now, to adopt RPKI? Is there an easy way IP address holders in R&E can supply their data and adopt RPKI-ROAs?
Deaton: In the U.S., the process of RPKI adoption and creating an RPKI-ROA is facilitated through ARIN.
And for those 800-plus R&E institutions I mentioned earlier that are already qualified to create RPKI-ROAs, most of the work — at least the initial work — to be able to adopt RPKI is already in place. For them, creating an RPKI-ROA comes down to a pretty simple web form with only three fields. It takes less than 5 minutes to complete as long as the participant can identify and input accurate data — accuracy is essential and very critical to avoid causing a network outage in the process! But the good news is that no new hardware or hardware configuration is required.
If your readers would like to check whether their networked organization is one of those 800-plus that already qualify to adopt RPKI as Internet2-connected R&E institutions, they can check the list easily by e-mailing [email protected].
Grush: There's so much going on to support the adoption of RPKI… both from relevant organizations and from Internet2 membership.
Deaton: Yes, and I also want to call attention to one of our Internet2 members, N-Wave, which is the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's network service provider. They've done a lot of work in this space as well. Recently they've seen that through their efforts, the U.S. Department of Commerce is beginning its own substantial implementation of RPKI across its networks and several bureaus. So it's just great to see that recent momentum that will carry us forward.
Given data from ARIN, along with other research input from sources as diverse as NIST and the NSF, I know we have a great opportunity together with our Internet2 community to build on some of our best collaborative aspects and increase RPKI adoption in the coming year. I would love to see the R&E community, through our initiatives and available resources, take the lead in the RPKI-ROA adoption rate. I think we have that opportunity.
[Editor's note: Image created with AI — Microsoft Image Creator by Designer.]
About the Author
Mary Grush is Editor and Conference Program Director, Campus Technology.