rutehijacking

Route hijacking, also known as Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) hijacking, is a malicious internet routing technique. It exploits the Border Gateway Protocol (BGP), the core routing protocol that governs how data packets travel across the internet. When a BGP hijacking occurs, an unauthorized entity announces ownership of IP address ranges that do not belong to them. This false announcement, or "hijack," is then propagated through the BGP system to other internet routers.

As a result, traffic destined for the hijacked IP addresses is misrouted to the attacker's network instead of its intended destination. This can lead to several malicious outcomes. It can be used to intercept sensitive data, such as login credentials or financial information, through a man-in-the-middle attack. It can also be used to disrupt internet services by redirecting traffic away from legitimate servers, causing denial-of-service conditions. In some cases, attackers might simply redirect traffic to a false website designed to trick users into divulging information or downloading malware.

Mitigation strategies for route hijacking include various technical and operational measures. These include BGP security enhancements like Resource Public Key Infrastructure (RPKI), which cryptographically verifies the legitimacy of BGP announcements. Network operators also implement filtering and monitoring to detect anomalous routing behavior. While complete prevention is challenging due to the decentralized nature of the internet, these measures aim to reduce the frequency and impact of BGP hijacking incidents.