Goals Turn Into Action as Community Works to Secure Legacy Networks Before Year-End

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Seventy-four. That’s the number of organizations across the U.S. research and education community that have taken action to secure their legacy network resources since the start of 2023.

Those 74 organizations include universities, colleges, supercomputing centers, K-12 schools, and more – each successfully establishing an agreement with the American Registry for Internet Numbers (ARIN) to protect their IP addresses that were allocated before ARIN existed. These resources are known as “legacy resources.”

As a result, these organizations now have access to services that fill critical gaps in their networks’ routing security. RPKI Route Origin Authorization, which I like to call “routing security’s easy button,” is among those services.

When it comes to protecting our community’s networks from common routing security threats, that’s progress worth celebrating. And the time for progress is now. 

After this year, ARIN’s fees to secure legacy resources will rise substantially. In a previous blog post, I calculated the total cost per year across the R&E community to access ARIN’s security services: more than $2,000,000 annually if we don’t take advantage of the current discounted fee structure, compared to $75,000 annually if we do.

Process Improvements and Community Insights

Over the last 12 months, we’ve seen improvements in the entire approach for covering IP addresses with ARIN’s agreement, including:

• Improved language in ARIN’s Registration Services Agreement based on community feedback, including reframing the “No Property Rights” section. 
• A better process for requesting changes in the agreement due to federal, state, or local law.
• The incentive to lock in reduced ARIN fees before the end of 2023, after which the fees may be 20-40 times greater.

Much of the Internet2 Routing Integrity program’s success thus far is the result of simply bringing attention to this issue among community holders of legacy IP addresses. Many of them were previously unaware of the importance of protecting their resources.

More Progress Needed

Less than five months remain before the window closes to lock in ARIN’s discounted fees for legacy resources. If your organization has IP addresses not yet covered under an ARIN agreement, now is the time to start that process. Internet2 can help.

To start, check out this recorded webinar that describes legacy IP addresses and the process for covering them with an ARIN agreement.

You can also join us for upcoming Routing Integrity Office Hours: 2 p.m. ET Aug. 31 and 4 p.m. ET Sept. 6. If you wish to attend one of these office hours sessions, email manrs@internet2.edu for the calendar invite and connection details. It’s a great opportunity to ask questions concerning:

• ARIN Agreements (e.g., Fee Increases, Access to Security Services)
• Internet2 Route Reports
• Internet2’s Project to Reduce the Number of Rejected Routes
• Routing Security

If you plan to attend the 2023 Internet2 Technology Exchange, Sept. 18-22 in Minneapolis, join us for these timely routing security-related sessions:

• Enabling RPKI
• Internet2 Route Reports and Routing Intentions – Policy vs. Implementation

Finally, visit the Routing Integrity website for more information and resources, and send your questions to manrs@internet2.edu.

ICYMI

• ARIN’s Routing Security Services Play Important Role for the Research and Education Community