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Last week, a joint experiment of the RIPE NCC (Reseaux IP Europeens Network Coordination Centre) and Duke University researchers had to be stopped abruptly after nearly 1 percent of the internet went out of kilter in its wake. As part of their experiment, the researchers used RIPE NCC's systems to distribute experimental BGP (Border Gateway Protocol) data – routers use it to make efficient data routing decisions.
Although the experimental BGP data relayed by RIPE NCC's Routing Information Service (RIS) was “correct and complied to all standards,” it nonetheless destabilized 3,500 prefixes, or announced blocks of Internet Protocol addresses – the Internet has around 333,000 prefixes in all, causing a partial internet blackout that affected many networks in more than 60 countries. RIPE NCC blamed certain router types for “incorrectly modifying the experimental attribute and then further announcing the malformed route to their peers.”
As it later turned out, the “certain router types” that RIPE NCC was alluding to all belonged to Cisco's stable. The San Jose-based company has now patched the bug in its IOS (Internetwork Operating System) router software that destabilized parts of the Internet.
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