Resource Public Key Infrastructure Pilot Program


January 23, 2017

security

CAAREN and Internet2 are collaborating on a pilot program to improve the security and resiliency of the global internet routing infrastructure.

The Resource Public Key Infrastructure (RPKI) addresses a critical shortcoming in internet routing; namely, the ability to verify that an organization has the authority to claim a specific block of IP addresses for its network identity. Given the internet's complex network infrastructure, it is a common practice for network operators to use the Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) to share routing and topology data. BGP has been a successful, long lived, and stable protocol, but like much in the early days of the internet, it continues to rely primarily on trust.

RPKI mirrors the IP address assignment hierarchy with a chain of certificates that can be collected and verified to ensure that the proper organization is advertising a specific block of IPv4 or IPv6 addresses.