Twenty years ago this month, RFC 1883 was published: Internet Protocol, Version 6 (IPv6) Specification. So what's an Internet Protocol, and what's wrong with the previous five versions? And if version 6 is so great, why has it only been adopted by half a percent of the Internet's users each year over the past two decades?
Internet Explorer proved to be the biggest security concern for Microsoft in the last month, with the browser spurring 11 of the 19 critical vulnerabilities the company issued in August's "Patch Tuesday" set of software fixes.
Such a sizable group of critical patches once again underscores the need for users and organizations to update their copies of Internet Explorer. Their reluctance to upgrade has been a source of ongoing frustration for security professionals, who repeatedly warn of the dangers of unpatched browsers and remind everyone how easy it is to actually update.
Researchers at Neohapsis Labs have discovered an ingeniously simple man-in-the-middle attack that can hijack the IPv6 capability of a PC to silently intercept all web traffic on a target network.
Due for full disclosure at the DEF CON 21 conference, the attack's design isn't new - the similar Stateless Address Auto Configuration (SLAAC) principle was demonstrated at Infosec in 2011 - but extends it to Windows 8 segments for the first time.
Mesh-networking standard ZigBee now has support for IP, allowing embedded devices (from 'leccy meters to lightbulbs) to be directly addressed as long as the addresser is using IPv6.
The new extension to the standard, ZigBee IP, has been created at the behest of utilities and will be integrated into the next version of the ZigBee Smart Energy profile. That profile is already being used by utilities in California and Texas and permits utilities to control energy consumption, but version two will extend those capabilities and, with ZigBee IP, make them internet friendly.
Do we have flying cars, robot servants, jetpacks and time travel machines yet? Nope, not yet... but tomorrow we will be getting a lot more IP addresses when IPv6 launches.
Go to the Internet Society’s Website, and across the top of one of the pages is a countdown clock, the seconds ticking away as ttime closes in on World IPv6 Day June 6.
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.
World IPv6 Day has been and gone, and the result is nothing but good news: everything went smoothly, nothing broke, and the Internet appears ready to begin its gradual transition towards the new addressing scheme over the next few years.
Although vendor-written, this contributed piece does not advocate a position that is particular to the author's employer and has been edited and approved by Network World editors.
