Description: Route manipulation is the process of altering routing information to achieve desired routing behavior. This process is fundamental in the context of the Border Gateway Protocol (BGP), which is the routing protocol used to exchange routing information between autonomous systems on the Internet. Route manipulation allows network administrators to influence how data is routed through the network, optimizing performance, security, and efficiency. Techniques for route manipulation may include modifying route attributes such as prefix length, weight, community, and local preference. These modifications can be used to prioritize certain paths over others, avoid unwanted routes, or even redirect traffic through specific links. Route manipulation is a powerful tool that, when used correctly, can significantly improve traffic management in complex networks, but it can also be subject to abuse, such as in the case of malicious routing attacks. Therefore, it is crucial for network administrators to implement appropriate security policies to protect their systems from unauthorized manipulations.
History: Route manipulation in BGP has evolved since the protocol’s creation in 1989, when it was introduced as a means to exchange routing information between different autonomous systems. Over the years, various techniques and practices for manipulating routes have been developed, especially as the Internet has grown in complexity and size. Significant events, such as the 2008 routing attack that affected YouTube, have highlighted the importance of route manipulation and the need for robust security policies.
Uses: Route manipulation is primarily used to optimize traffic routing in complex networks, allowing administrators to prioritize certain paths, avoid unwanted routes, and manage traffic load. It is also used to implement security policies, such as preventing routing attacks and mitigating connectivity issues. Additionally, it is common in the implementation of service provider networks and in managing traffic between different autonomous systems.
Examples: An example of route manipulation is the use of BGP attributes such as ‘local preference’ to prefer a specific link over others in a multi-provider network. Another case is the use of BGP communities to apply specific routing policies to groups of routes, allowing administrators to manage traffic more effectively. There have also been documented incidents where route manipulation has been used to maliciously redirect traffic, such as the YouTube route hijacking incident in 2008.
