Introducing a New MANRS IXP Programme for Routing Security

Today, we are pleased to announce that MANRS is getting a new category of members – IXPs. The MANRS IXP Programme introduces a separate membership category for IXPs with a set of security actions to address the unique needs and concerns of IXPs.

The ten founding participants are Asteroid (International), CABASE (Argentina), CRIX (Costa Rica), DE-CIX (Germany), INEX (Ireland), MSK-IX (Russia), Netnod (Sweden), RINEX (Rwanda), TorIX (Canada), and YYCIX (Canada).

Programme participation provides an opportunity for an IXP to demonstrate its attention to the security and sustainability of the Internet ecosystem and, therefore, its dedication to providing high-quality services.

The IXP Action set was developed by a group of IXPs from all around the world and was presented at multiple IXP fora for discussion and feedback. We hope that with IXPs as partners, their ISP members will join the Network Operator category of MANRS.

Participation in the MANRS IXP Programme requires an IXP to implement and document a majority of the IXP Programme Actions (at least three out of five). Actions 1 and 2 are mandatory, and the IXP must implement at least one additional Action. Here are the five Actions:

1. Facilitate prevention of propagation of incorrect routing information
2. Promote MANRS in the IXP’s membership
3. Protect the peering platform
4. Facilitate global operational communication and coordination between network operators
5. Provide monitoring and debugging tools to members

The full set of Actions for IXPs can be found here: https://manrs.org/participants/ixp/

The IXP Programme founding participants have taken these actions, which establish a security baseline that many IXPs may already surpass and from which others can build.

All IXPs are invited to join this new Programme! Read more about the Actions here, sign up to join here, or see the list of participants here. You can also read the full press release about the new Programme.

Supporting Quotes from Initial Participants

“Asteroid has a strong focus on security, so we are proud to be a founding participant in MANRS. IXPs are often at the heart of the local operators’ community, and we believe it’s our responsibility to lead by example and to promote routing security. MANRS is an opportunity for us all to lift the standard of our shared security responsibility,” said Andy Davidson, CTO, Asteroid.

“Our community has matured to formalize “good-order rules.” Usually, the participants of the IX have already observed all the stipulated norms, but now we will have a formal document that the interested persons will be able to sign. It was important for our participants (over 95% use the Route Server service) that MSK-IX take on the role of arbiter,” says Alexander Ilin, Chief Technical Officer, MSK-IX.

“We at DE-CIX are proud to support the MANRS IXP Programme as a founding participant with our knowledge and experience. It is time for IXPs to take responsibility to make the Internet a more secure and resilient place,” said Christoph Dietzel, Head of Research & Development at DE-CIX.

“We are very proud to be involved with the MANRS IXP Programme. Securing Internet routing has clear benefits not just for IXP members and their customers but for end users and the global internet community as a whole”, says Mattias Karlsson, Head of Engineering, Netnod.