How can you test and validate the security of your BGP configuration and performance?

1 BGP security threats

BGP security threats can be divided into two categories: accidental and intentional. Accidental threats are caused by human errors, misconfigurations, or software bugs that lead to incorrect or inconsistent BGP announcements or updates. Meanwhile, intentional threats are deliberate attacks with the aim of manipulating, diverting, or disrupting BGP traffic for malicious purposes. Examples of intentional threats include BGP hijacking, where an attacker announces a prefix that belongs to another network and attracts traffic to its own network; BGP spoofing, where an attacker forges the source IP address of a BGP update; and BGP denial of service (DoS), which is when an attacker floods a network with bogus or excessive BGP updates, overwhelming its resources and impairing its ability to process legitimate BGP traffic.

2 BGP security best practices

To mitigate the risks of BGP security threats, there are some best practices that you should follow when configuring and operating your BGP network. These include applying strict filtering policies on your BGP peers, only accepting or announcing prefixes that you trust and expect, using cryptographic authentication mechanisms to verify the identity of your BGP peers, monitoring your BGP network regularly, and collecting and analyzing data on your BGP traffic, routes, peers, and events. Additionally, you should use tools such as Looking Glass servers, Route Views, or RIPE RIS to check the global visibility and consistency of your BGP announcements.

3 BGP security testing

BGP security testing is the process of verifying and validating the security of your BGP configuration and performance, and identifying and resolving any vulnerabilities or issues. Doing so can help you improve network performance, availability, and reliability; enhance security; and increase visibility. BGP security testing can be performed in different ways, such as simulation with software tools or platforms, emulation with hardware devices or appliances, or live testing with actual BGP traffic. Simulation allows you to create virtual BGP networks and simulate different scenarios, conditions, and attacks. Emulation generates realistic BGP traffic to emulate different network environments, configurations, and behaviors. Live testing uses real BGP networks to evaluate the results and feedback.

4 BGP security validation

BGP security validation is the process of confirming and demonstrating the security of your BGP configuration and performance, and ensuring that they meet your expectations and requirements. This process can help you build network confidence by verifying that your BGP network is functioning correctly, efficiently, and securely; establish network reputation by proving that your BGP network is compliant with industry standards and best practices; and support network decisions by providing evidence and justification for your BGP network design, implementation, and operation. Different methods of validation can be used depending on needs, preferences, and criteria, such as self-validation with your own tools and methods, peer-validation with external tools and methods, or customer-validation with feedback and testimonials from customers or users.