The White House’s cybersecurity office is urging network operators to bolster the security of the Border Gateway Protocol (BGP), a crucial yet vulnerable technology that routes internet traffic.

In new guidance released on Tuesday, the office highlighted longstanding concerns—some dating back 25 years—about BGP’s inadequacies in addressing today’s cybersecurity threats. The office emphasized the need for adopting available technologies, such as Resource Public Key Infrastructure (RPKI), to protect against exploits that could lead to cryptocurrency theft, malware distribution, and other malicious activities.

BGP plays a vital role in how networks communicate routing information, such as which internet addresses are currently accepting traffic. However, without enhancements like RPKI, BGP remains susceptible to attacks that can hijack traffic and expose users to serious risks. The guidance calls for the implementation of Route Origin Validation (ROV) and Route Origin Authorization (ROA), technologies that help verify the legitimacy of internet addresses. The White House acknowledged the difficulty of securing BGP but noted that federal networks are making progress, with plans to have over 60% of the government’s IP space secured by the end of the year.