Whilst talking with customers, I find I am increasingly getting into conversations about Internet Protocol version 6 and how it will succeed IPv4, the current addressing scheme that directs nearly all internet traffic.
This got me thinking about how important the IPv6 subject is to our customers and what concerns there are around the inevitable change in addressing that the growth of the internet has created (a need for more IP addresses than are available with the current addressing system). Put simply, IP addresses are about to run out unless there is a quick uptake of the new addressing system.
Checkpoint fellow, Robert Hinden, spoke about the security implications of deploying IPv6 at the V6 World Conference in Paris, this February. Hinden, who was co-recipient of the 2008 IEEE internet award for pioneering work in the development of the first internet routers, said that IPv6 deployment had already begun, driven mostly by the exhaustion of IPv4 addresses.
The most notable issue in the minds of networking professionals and IT/infrastructure managers is that IPv6 has it’s own security implications.
Organisations need to be aware of the vulnerabilities. IPv6 can be used as a covert channel for botnets and hackers and organisations need to educate themselves on how to detect and prevent unauthorised network traffic and deploy IPv6 securely.
I will be interested to see what challenges arise around the new IPv6 addressing scheme and the solutions to meet these challenges.
Checkpoint, pioneers of Firewall-1 are uniquely positioned to help companies and other organisations to integrate IPv6 smoothly.
To learn more about how Checkpoint and Recarta can provide the training and infrastructure to deploy IPv6 safely, contact us.