April 20 , 2006, 3pm, CS 432
"A Public Key Infrastrcture to Support Secure Internet Routing"
Dr. Stephen T. Kent, BBN Technologies

Abstract: The Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) is the foundation of inter-domain Internet routing. A number of papers have described how BGP is highly vulnerable to a wide range of attacks, and several proposals have been offered to secure BGP (e.g., S-BGP, soBGP, psBGP, SPV). Most of these proposed mechanisms rely on a Public Key Infrastructur (PKI) to provide trusted inputs for routing security mechanisms, which will enable BGP routers to reject bogus routing advertisements. This talk provides a concrete proposal for a PKI representing IP address allocation and Autonomous System number assignment, and describes requirements for a repository system for use with the PKI. This infrastructure offers a near-term opportunity to improve routing security, since it does not require changes to routers, while setting the stage for more comprehensive BGP security initiatives in the future.

Bio: Since late 1970s, Dr. Kent's R&D activities have included the design and development of user authentication and access control systems, network layer encryption and access control systems, secure transport layer protocols secure e-mail technology, multi-level secure (X.500) directory systems, public-key certification authority systems, and key recovery (key escrow) systems. His most recent work focuses on public-key certification infrastructures, security for Internet routing, very high speed IP encryption, and high assurance cryptographic modules.

Dr. Kent served as a member of the Internet Architecture Board and chaired the IRTF Privacy and Security Research Group. He also chaired the IETF Privacy Enhanced Mail Working Group and now co-chairs the Public Key Infrastructure Working Group. He is the primary author of the IP Security standards. He has served on the board of numerous organizations and committes, including: Security Research Alliance, International Association for Cryptologic Research, Intelligence Science Board. He has led a number of studies for the NRC, NIST and other government and non-governemtn agencies. The author of several book chapters and numerous technical papers on network security, Dr. Kent is a also a frequent lecturer on the topic of network security on behalf of government agencies, universities, and private companies. Dr. Kent received a Ph.D. in Computer Science from MIT. He is a Fellow of the ACM.