United States Government Mandates Transition to IPv6

ALEXANDRIA, Va., Jan. 25, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- With the global pool of new, available IPv4 addresses set to run out in the coming weeks, government agencies are working hard to meet stringent deadlines set by Obama's Chief Information Officer.  At the same time, agencies are grappling with how to protect networks and information from existing and future IPv6 cyber threats.

"There is a new sense of urgency by our clients as we help agencies accelerate their IPv6 planning, design, and implementation," said Command Information EVP for Cyber Security Lisa Donnan. "But moving to IPv6 isn't enough. Networks must add layers of defense to their security infrastructure to address specific IPv6 threats."

The Obama Administration has mandated that by 2012, all public facing servers and services must use native IPv6 and by 2014 all internal applications that communicate with public Internet servers must also transition.  Additionally each agency is required to designate an IPv6 Transition Manager to ensure agency procurements of networked IT comply with FAR requirements.

The number of IPv6 vulnerabilities that traditional hardware and software assurance vendors can detect is limited because there are significant differences between IPv4 and IPv6 protocols. Attackers are actively using IPv6 to tunnel into networks because traffic traversing through IPv6 transition mechanisms is undetectable by today's firewalls and routers. Even if IPv6 is not enabled on the network, many of these security concerns still exist.

To help agencies securely meet these IPV6 mandates, Command Information has designed and deployed tools, consulting and training to ensure government and commercial providers are able to successfully navigate this transition.  In addition to offering Security Bootcamps and technical implementation methodologies, Command Information has deployed Assure6^™, a cyber-security tool that helps agencies manage enterprise-wide policy of IPv6.

About Command Information

A trusted partner to federal agencies and global companies for 18 years, Command Information is the premier provider of cyber security and enterprise transportation services and solutions. Command Information and AnviCom Inc., its government-focused subsidiary, provide technology, objective consulting, and engineering to leverage next generation Internet applications and services. Our SEI CMMI level 3 software development and systems engineering, coupled with deep domain expertise, support mission-critical enterprise systems with global reach. For more information, please visit www.commandinformation.com

SOURCE Command Information