Security invaders ahead on IPv6 knowledge
Hackers seeking to breach security are ahead of most would-be business implementers when it comes to figuring out the detail of IPv6 and are more motivated, a Wellington seminar has heard.
If a government agency does not intend using IPv6 in the near term, and has IPv6-capable devices communicating with its network, then IPv6 capability will have to be consciously turned off, Jonathan Berry of the Government Communications Security bureau warns. “That’s prudent behaviour. Any sort of network hardening will push you down a path of turning off services and functionality you don’t need,” he told the seminar, on “Practical IPv6 for Government”.
It’s all too easy, several speakers at the event testified, to acquire IPv6 devices and addresses on a network, effectively providing a backdoor for security breaches if the network is not hardened against such traffic. And once you turn on IPv6, traffic on the network should, of course, be carefully monitored, to make sure only known activity is going on. “Whether you want to use IPv6 or not, you will have to know about it to keep your network secure,” said Graeme Neilson of security specialist AuraInfosec.
