MANRS Update: One Year Under GCA

It’s been just over a year since the Global Cyber Alliance took on the secretariat functions of MANRS, so we put together a report for the Internet Society (MANRS’ original home) that reflects on all we accomplished together in 2024. 

Most importantly, we’ve seen a 12.5% increase in MANRS participants and supported a stronger, more secure routing system worldwide. We improved the MANRS Observatory by incorporating the ROA Stats (ROAST) tool and releasing the ROA History API endpoint. In the annual MANRS Steering Committee election in November, the community elected three new members: Douglas Fischer, Peering Latam; Erika Vega, LACNOG; and Steven Wallace, Internet2. 

Onto the participant growth numbers! NetOps participants increased from 904 to 1,012, while IXPs grew from 28 to 31. The CDN and Cloud category also saw an uptick, rising from 133 to 141 participants. Vendors, however, remained steady at 6 participants. Overall, total participation grew by 12.5%, expanding from 1,071 to 1,190 participants.

Two community meetings aimed to enhance awareness and engagement across the MANRS and routing security community. The first meeting focused on introducing GCA and recent trends in policymaking, particularly within the US Government. The second meeting featured remarks from outgoing MANRS Steering Committee members and technical topics from MANRS participants.

In continued partnership with the Internet Society, together we had a presence at many industry events, covering eighteen (18) countries in every RIR region at large Network Operator Group (NOG) events and smaller, regional events.

A 2024 year-in-review would not be complete without mentioning regulatory activities related to routing security. Working in close coordination with the Internet Society, GCA has been following, analyzing, and commenting as necessary on activities around the world. The US Government, in particular, has been investigating how to clean up their networks and the global routing system. Elsewhere, routing security has been a hot topic in Latin America, the United Kingdom, and the European Union. We wrote a short ‘explainer’ document to help the MANRS community.

The MANRS+ Working Group is piloting a self-assessment survey to support conformance efforts and taking significant steps toward forming a founding group for MANRS+ adoption. Additionally, we worked to promote MANRS+ standards within information security frameworks and procurement processes, further embedding these principles into industry best practices.

This year, we will enhance the MANRS Observatory with improved data and incident feeds, providing greater insights for action. We are developing a MANRS Development Process (MDP) to enable consensus-driven updates. Additionally, we will explore new ways to broaden engagement and collaboration worldwide.

2024 was an extraordinary year for MANRS, marked by significant growth and meaningful advancements in our mission to strengthen the routing system’s resilience and security. Our accomplishments reflect the dedication and collaboration of our community, and they set a strong foundation for the exciting plans we have for the future.

We are especially grateful to the Internet Society for its generous financial support, which has been instrumental in driving our success. Together, we look forward to building on this momentum and continuing to make a positive impact in the year ahead.

Read the full 2024 recap report here.