US Department of Commerce Implements Internet Routing Security

The US Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) began implementing an important Internet routing security measure, enhancing cybersecurity throughout the Department and completing a key priority from the National Cybersecurity Strategy. Routing security—ensuring that Internet traffic reaches its intended target—has been a concern for more than 20 years. In 2003, the White House noted that Internet routing incidents created a great risk of Internet service disruption. In the years since, agencies have worked with stakeholders to develop solutions and promote routing security. Still, in 2023, the Biden Harris Administration’s National Cybersecurity Strategy identified routing security is a “pervasive concern.” That is in part because, despite being a large holder of Internet address resources, the U.S. government has a low adoption level of routing security. As a result, the National Cybersecurity Strategy called on federal agencies to implement routing security, and NTIA has helped develop a model contract for other federal agencies to use to adopt routing security.