As reported elsewhere on CBR today is World IPv6 Day, when tech companies across the globe unite to raise awareness of the transition to IPv6 as we rapidly approach the end of IPv4.
Internet Protocol (IP) is the system that governs address on the Internet, but its pool of available addresses is running out fast. IPv4, the current protocol, is expected to become exhausted by the end 2012 at the very latest. A newer version of the protocol, IPv6, allows, "3.4 x 10^38 (340 trillion trillion trillion) internet addresses", according to the Guardian, meaning we will never have to worry about addresses running out again in the future.
IPv6 is ready to roll but there are a number of issues that making the switch can cause, such as whether websites are capable of using it or whether hardware can cope with IPv6. If not it may render websites unusable. That’s where World IPv6 Day comes in.
"World IPv6 Day is a 24-hour test that will enable the industry to gain insights about potential IPv6 issues, find solutions, and accelerate global adoption of IPv6," said Facebook in a blog. "Since every device on the Internet relies on a unique address to communicate, we must transition to IPv6. World IPv6 Day will allow us to better understand how our infrastructure and code perform under IPv6 while minimising impact on our users."
Facebook went on to say it is fully confident it will cope with IPv6: "We anticipate that 99.97% of users will not be affected at all. The small number of users who may be affected may find that pages are slow to load and we are working to minimise the impact."
So what does this mean for businesses? Is it really an issue if a few websites may be a bit slow to load? Yes, because issues are much broader than that.
"Businesses must move quickly towards full IPv6 adoption or risk losing access to a large segment of customers – and the big brands participating in this trial should really place the issue under the microscope," said Jeff Burdette, director of R&D at IP intelligence experts Digital Element.
"In time, there will be consumers who only have access to IPv6 – and if businesses have not yet caught up, they will unfortunately miss out on that revenue. My advice to businesses would be to get their web presence dual-stacked by the end of this year in order to enable both IPv4 and IPv6 access for consumers. with IPv4 addresses rapidly running out, companies should be relentless in pressing their ISPs to provide IPv6 access, as this will be vital in ensuring the seamless maintenance of any business’s online presence," Burdette added.
A slightly less panicky message comes from Matt McCloskey, head of applications & services at Virgin Media Business.
"The Internet is maturing and the protocols need to change to enable this. However, there’s no need to panic; we’ve been expecting this for a long-time and the necessary precautions have been taken to ensure a smooth switchover Here at Virgin Media Business preparations have been ongoing for a long time. As well as our core and access networks being capable of supporting IPv6, we’re rigorously testing our entire network to ensure that all customers have a smooth and simple transition when the time comes to flick the switch and turn IPv6 on," he said.
This isn’t a new issue so why is it only now that action is being taken? "There still appears to be no rush by ISPs and hardware manufacturers to promote and fully adopt IPv6," wrote Iain Shaw, managing director of UK buying group Brigantia. "Whilst providers and manufacturers are quite right in their defences to state that this latest news does not mean the apocalyptic end of the Internet, as was occasionally reported by the press, it is fair to say that now is the time to act."
"So why have providers and manufacturers been so slow to adopt IPv6? Well they both appear to be blaming each other. The ISPs complain that hardware manufacturers have not yet developed enough supporting hardware to accommodate demand and therefore justify their investment in moving to IPv6, whilst the hardware manufacturers argue that they shouldn’t be developing the hardware until the networks can support it," Shaw added.
What does IPv6 mean from a security point of view? Symantec offers some clues: "[It] raises some new and potentially interesting problems for malware authors, anti-virus companies, and system/network administrators. All non-network centric aspects of malicious code will be unaffected by the eventual migration to IPv6. However, the impact will be notable on malicious code that propagates around networks, attempts to disrupt network services and attempts to profile network enabled attack vectors."
There are other potential issues as well, if for example malicious traffic can bypass firewalls that do not ccurately detect and inspect IPv6 traffic. "As always, Symantec recommends that you keep your definitions, signatures and firewall rules up to date to ensure protection against threats," Symantec’s Cathal Mullaney concluded.
