NCCoE Releases Draft of NIST Special Publication (SP) 1800-14 Protecting the Integrity of Internet Routing: Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) Route Origin Validation

We are excited to announce the release of draft National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Special Publication 1800-14: Protecting the Integrity of Internet Routing: Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) Route Origin Validation. The National Cybersecurity Center of Excellence (NCCoE) seeks your feedback. The comment period is open until October 15, 2018.Submit comments online or via email to sidr-nccoe [at] nist.gov (sidr-nccoe[at]nist[dot]gov).

About the Guide

It is difficult to overstate the importance of the internet to modern business and society in general. The internet is not a single network, but rather a complex grid of independent interconnected networks that relies on a protocol known as Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) to route traffic to its intended destination.

Unfortunately, BGP was not designed with security in mind and a route hijack attack can deny access to internet services, misdeliver traffic to malicious endpoints, and cause routing instability. A technique known as BPG route origin validation (ROV) is designed to protect against route hijacking.

The NCCoE, together with several technology vendors, has developed proof-of-concept demonstrations of BGP ROV implementation designed to improve the security of the internet's routing infrastructure. 

This cybersecurity practice guide contains step-by-step example solutions using commercially available technologies. By implementing the example solutions, organizations can better secure the safe delivery of internet traffic to its intended destination, reduce the number of outages due to BGP route hijacks, and make more informed decisions regarding routes that may be compromised. 

The draft practice guide is available for download here.

Your feedback is important to us and we look forward to receiving your comments on this draft guide.