MANRS

A Collaborative Effort to Improve Routing Security

Every day, routing security incidents affect the Internet and the organizations and people that rely on it. Mutually Agreed Norms for Routing Security (MANRS) is a global initiative, supported by the Global Cyber Alliance, that provides crucial fixes to reduce the most common routing threats — things like Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) leaks and BGP hijacks that can lead to reputational damage, loss of intellectual property, and denial of service (DoS) attacks.

MANRS outlines simple, concrete actions organizations can take, tailored to their role on the Internet, offering four programs for Network Operators, Internet Exchange Points, CDN and Cloud Providers, and Equipment Vendors. Joining MANRS means joining a community of security-minded organizations committed to making the global routing infrastructure more robust and secure.

Created by members of the network operator community in 2014, the Global Cyber Alliance took on secretariat and operational functions in 2024. MANRS is part of GCA’s Internet Integrity Program, which addresses systemic cyber risk at the infrastructure level by focusing on the three components that build up the Internet— the domain names (names), the IP address space (numbers), and its routing mechanisms (routes).

Key Components

Community

A community of security-minded organizations committed to improving the global routing infrastructure.

Incident Monitoring

Deep dives into routing security incidents.

Observatory

The MANRS Observatory aggregates data to help network operators improve the security of their networks.

Training

Moderated online courses, face-to-face courses, and self-paced online tutorials in English, Spanish, and French.

Events

Community meetings, workshops, and conferences.

Background

Border Gateway Protocol, or BGP, is used to direct traffic across the Internet. Networks use BGP to exchange “reachability information” – networks they know how to get to. Any network that is connected to the Internet eventually relies on BGP to reach other networks.

The problem is, BGP was created long before security was a concern. BGP assumes that all networks are trustworthy. Technically, there are no built-in security mechanisms to validate that routes are legitimate. In addition, networks are scattered across the globe making the chain of trust difficult to trace, and even if you’re trying to validate information, there’s a lack of reliable resource data.

There are tools to help secure BGP, but they are still under-deployed. Network operators have a responsibility to ensure a globally robust and secure routing infrastructure. No operator can secure their own network entirely by themselves. Routing security depends on the actions of other networks, and every network should help secure the global routing system as a whole.

The MANRS Community

Now with over 1,000 participants across its four programs, MANRS has its own community and governance structure, with secretariat support from the Global Cyber Alliance. A Steering Committee provides oversight of the MANRS application and auditing processes, enhances the MANRS Actions by developing ongoing conformance criteria, and helps guide community programs, trainings, and events. Programs exist for:

Network Operators
Internet Exchange Points (IXPs)
Content Delivery Network (CDN) and Cloud Providers
Equipment Vendors

Learn More

The Global Cyber Alliance serves as the secretariat of the MANRS community. Learn more about the initiative, including how to participate, at www.manrs.org.

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