Verizon and a BGP Optimizer Knocked Large Parts of the Internet Offline (blog.cloudflare.com)

Article summary

A BGP optimizer used by a small company in Pennsylvania caused a massive route leak, affecting major parts of the Internet, including Cloudflare, Amazon, and Linode. The leak occurred when Verizon, a major Internet transit provider, forwarded the faulty routes to the rest of the Internet without proper filtering. This incident highlights the importance of proper BGP filtering and configuration to prevent such outages. The article suggests that Verizon's lack of filtering was the main cause of the incident, and that it could have been prevented with proper IRR filtering.

Main themes

• BGP routing
• Internet outages
• Network configuration
• ISP responsibility
• Internet governance

What commenters say

• The incident was caused by Verizon's lack of proper BGP filtering and configuration, which is a basic best practice in the industry.
• Decentralized DNS systems, such as a web of trust, could potentially prevent such outages by giving users more control over their internet experience.
• The use of BGP optimizers can be beneficial for network performance, but they require careful supervision and configuration to prevent accidents like this one.
• Verizon's response to the incident was insufficient and non-committal, and the company needs to take concrete steps to prevent similar incidents in the future.
• Partitioning Verizon off the internet is not a viable solution, as it would harm innocent customers who have no alternative internet providers due to monopolies in the US.
• The incident highlights the need for better internet governance and more robust systems for preventing and responding to outages.
• Some commentators argue that Cloudflare's response to the incident was unprofessional and overly focused on blaming Verizon, rather than taking a more constructive approach to addressing the issue.