Digital signature protection of the OSPF routing protocol

Abstract

The routing protocols used to disseminate routing information throughout the Internet are not protected from intruders or faulty router participants. This paper reports on work in progress to protect the OSPF routing protocol through the use of cryptography, specifically, digital signatures. The routing information is signed with an asymmetric cryptographic algorithm, allowing each router recipient to check the source and integrity of the information. This paper discusses the fundamental issues in security of routing protocols, reviews the basics of OSPF operation, describes the proposed design and discusses remaining vulnerabilities.