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Mutually Agreed Norms for Routing Security (MANRS) 25 March 2020

Working with APRICOT to Improve Routing Security

By Megan KruseFormer Director, Advocacy and Communications

We’re pleased to announce that the Internet Society and the Asia Pacific Network Operators Group Ltd (APNOG) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to cooperate in supporting the MANRS initiative in the Asia-Pacific region.

APNOG is the non-profit entity that runs the annual APRICOT conference, also called the Asia-Pacific Regional Internet Conference on Operational Technologies. APRICOT is the largest meeting of the technical community in the region.

The agreement will see the two undertake initiatives and activities to promote the security of the Internet’s global routing system and Mutually Agreed Norms for Routing Security (MANRS). MANRS is a global initiative, supported by the Internet Society, that provides crucial fixes to reduce the most common routing threats.

We agree to tackle routing-related cybersecurity incidents such as route hijacking, route leaks, IP address spoofing, and other harmful activities that can lead to DDoS attacks, traffic inspection, lost revenue, reputational damage, and more.

APRICOT draws many of the world’s best Internet engineers, operators, researchers, service providers, and policy enthusiasts from around the world to share the technical knowledge needed to run and expand the Internet securely. The partnership will allow MANRS to better leverage the platform to promote routing security to conference participants, including Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and Internet Exchange Points (IXPs).

Specific activities include hosting events on routing security at the annual APRICOT Summit and/or online; promoting MANRS participation to APRICOT attendees; helping develop the MANRS community in the region; and working together on the MANRS Observatory, which shows a network’s level of MANRS readiness and serves as an indication of the general state of routing security.

We have also agreed to continue to sponsor APRICOT’s Fellowship Program, providing financial support for individuals from developing economies to attend the event, and to contribute to discussions about Internet operations, technologies, and development.

The agreement builds on the long-running partnership between APRICOT organizers (previously the Asia Pacific Internet Association (APIA), now APNOG) and the Internet Society. The Internet Society has contributed to it over the years by not only sponsorship, training, and community building, but has also made multiple high-profile appearances in various sessions, including the keynote speech in 2019 by Internet Society President and CEO Andrew Sullivan.

“We believe Internet routing security issues can be resolved through collective action and a shared sense of responsibility. We look forward to welcoming more MANRS members from the Asia-Pacific region, and working together with APNOG to improve routing security both regionally and globally,” said Rajnesh Singh, Regional Vice-President, Asia-Pacific for the Internet Society.

“We run APRICOT to cultivate the skills and understanding needed to develop a robust Internet infrastructure across the Asia-Pacific region – a goal also strongly supported by the MANRS community and the Internet Society. The partnership will let us work more closely together, and I look forward to MANRS playing an increasingly important role among key Internet builders in the region,” said Philip Smith, Director of APNOG.

Learn more about MANRS and APRICOT.

Disclaimer: Viewpoints expressed in this post are those of the author and may or may not reflect official Internet Society positions.

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