WASHINGTON, Sept 3 — The White House on Tuesday called for federal agencies to enhance internet routing security, amid growing concerns about China’s ability to divert internet traffic. The initiative is part of a broader effort to address vulnerabilities in the Border Gateway Protocol (BGP), a key component of the internet’s global routing infrastructure.
In a report from the White House Office of the National Cyber Director, federal agencies are urged to strengthen routing security within their networks and require U.S. government-contracted service providers to implement modern, commercially viable internet routing security technologies.
The report highlights the potential dangers of insecure routing: “Traffic can be inadvertently or deliberately diverted, exposing personal information, enabling theft, extortion, and state-level espionage, while disrupting critical infrastructure operations.”
The internet, which is made up of more than 70,000 interconnected networks, relies on BGP to route traffic globally. However, the report emphasized that BGP’s “original design properties do not adequately address the threats and resilience requirements of today’s internet ecosystem.”
Concerns Over China’s Misuse of BGP
In recent months, U.S. officials have raised alarms over China’s exploitation of BGP vulnerabilities. In June, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) advanced a proposal to bolster BGP security following reports that China Telecom had exploited these weaknesses to misroute U.S. internet traffic on at least six occasions.
The Defense and Justice Departments warned that China’s actions using BGP could provide opportunities to “disrupt, capture, examine, and alter U.S. traffic.” The report also mentioned that such “BGP hijacks” pose a severe risk by exposing sensitive information and enabling various forms of cyber espionage.
FCC Chair Jessica Rosenworcel echoed these concerns in June, stating that BGP hijacks can result in the exposure of personal data, financial theft, extortion, and espionage.
Broader Regulatory Actions
In response to these concerns, the FCC has taken a series of actions to curb China’s influence on U.S. telecommunications infrastructure. In April, the FCC ordered U.S. subsidiaries of China Telecom, China Unicom, China Mobile, and Pacific Networks (along with its subsidiary ComNet) to discontinue their fixed and mobile broadband operations in the U.S. This decision followed national security concerns and prior bans on these companies from providing telecommunications services in the U.S.
Additionally, the FCC has barred the approval of new telecommunications equipment from Chinese firms Huawei Technologies and ZTE, citing their “unacceptable risk” to U.S. national security.
This collective push by the White House, the FCC, and other federal agencies underscores the urgent need to strengthen U.S. internet infrastructure against rising threats from foreign entities, particularly China. As part of this initiative, the focus is on securing BGP to ensure the integrity of data routing and protect critical infrastructure from interference.
