The Internet Protocol Journal - Volume 6, Number 3

The task of adding security to Internet protocols and applications is a large and complex one. From a user's point of view, the securityenhanced version of any given component should behave just like the old version, just be "better and more secure." In some cases this is simple. Many of us now use a Secure Shell Protocol (SSH) client in place of Telnet , and shop online using the secure version of HTTP. But there is still work to be done to ensure that all of our protocols and associated applications provide security. In this issue we will look at routing , specifically the Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) and efforts that are underway to provide security for this critical component of the Internet infrastructure. As is often the case with emerging Internet technologies, there exists more than one proposed solution for securing BGP. Two solutions, S-BGP and soBGP, are described by Steve Kent and Russ White, respectively.

The Internet gets attacked by various forms of viruses and worms with some regularity. Some of these attacks have been quite sophisticated and have caused a great deal of nuisance in recent months. The effects following the Sobig.F virus are still very much being felt as I write this. Tom Chen gives us an overview of the trends surrounding viruses and worms.

Closely related to the virus attacks is spam . Unfortunately, I know of no complete technical, or even legal, solutions to this growing problem, but I would love to hear your views and solutions. Send your comments to: ipj@cisco.com, but don't use the string "spam" in the subject field or it may get filtered out!

Following Geoff Huston's opinion piece "The Myth of IPv6" in our previous issue, we received a response from The IPv6 Forum. The article is entitled "IPv6 Behind the Wall" and is by Jim Bound.

I was very pleased to hear that professor Peter T. Kirstein of University College London had been awarded the Internet Society's Jonathan B. Postel Service Award for 2003. I have known Peter since about 1977, when we collaborated on SATNET packet voice conferences between Oslo, London, Boston, and Marina del Rey. Peter is truly an Internet pioneer. (See "Fragments").