Thursday, 17 May 2012
The IPv6 security myth
The IPv6 security myth
By Susan Perschke, Network World | Nov 30, 2011
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PrintIf your IPv6 strategy is to delay implementation as long as you can, you still must address IPv6 security concerns right now.
If you plan to deploy IPv6 in a dual-stack configuration with IPv4, you're still not off the hook when it comes to security. And if you think you can simply turn off IPv6, that's not going to fly either.
The biggest looming security threat lies in the fact that enterprise networks already have tons of IPv6 enabled devices, including every device running Windows Vista or Windows 7, Mac OS/X, all Linux devices and BSD.
And unlike its predecessor, DHCP for IPv4, IPv6 doesn't require manual configuration. This stateless auto-configuration feature means that "IPv6-enabled devices are just waiting for a single router advertisement to identify themselves on the network," says Eric Vyncke, Distinguished Systems Engineer at Cisco and co-author of the book "IPv6 Security."
He cautions that "IPv4-only routers and switches don't recognize or respond to IPv6 device announcements, but a rogue IPv6 router could send and interpret this traffic."
Stateless auto-configuration allows any IPv6-enabled device to communicate with other IPv6 network devices and services on the same LAN. To do this, the device advertises its presence and is located via the IPv6 Neighbor Discovery Protocol (NDP).
But left unmanaged, NDP may be a bit too neighborly, possibly exposing devices to attackers anxious to glean information about what's going on inside the network, or even allowing the device itself to be taken over and turned into a "zombie."
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