Allied Telesyn Inc. Advising Customers of Vulnerability of Routers With Border Gate Protocol; Adding Protocol to Protect Networks.

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

BOTHELL, Wash.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 29, 2004

Allied Telesyn, Inc, a global leader in IP-based networking solutions for the access edge today alerted customers using its Layer 3 routers of a recently discovered vulnerability to spoofed packets, which could result in terminated connections. The company said it is adding MD5 to BGP routers to remedy the problem. MD5 is a cryptographical process for checking packet authenticity from the sender to the receiver.

"We've known for some time that Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) products have the greatest potential for impact to this issue, so that's why we're adding MD5," said Phil Jopa, chief technology officer for Allied Telesyn. "Because Transmission Control Protocol sessions used by BGP routers can remain connected for weeks or months, the vulnerability could cause significant portions of the Internet to be isolated. This is just one example of how we're anticipating technological issues and handling them in real time."

Jopa said the vulnerability affects both Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) and Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) products. However, because TCP sessions are typically shorter, they are less vulnerable than BGP products. Jopa also said network operators cannot completely defend against this vulnerability, and that the only way to defend against it is to force the attacker to increase the amount of data they must guess to disrupt the network.

Both external and internal BGP sessions are vulnerable to attackers. If a session between two routers is disrupted, all routes advertised between the two peers will be withdrawn. Depending on the routing configuration, there may be no adverse effects. If an appropriate static route has been defined on both sides of the affected session, traffic will be rerouted along other paths (which could cause some congestion on those alternate paths) or in the worse case, a portion of the network could be isolated and unreachable.

About Allied Telesyn, Inc.

Founded in 1987, Allied Telesyn, Inc. is a worldwide leader in IP-based networking products for carriers, service providers, enterprises, and educational institutions. With wholly-owned manufacturing facilities that deliver superior quality, Allied Telesyn delivers more than 1200 products to more than 50,000 customers worldwide. The company has comprehensive lines of high-quality access, aggregation, and core transport products for fiber and copper networks. In addition, ATI has extensive global professional services and support organizations to back them up. With approximately $500 million in annual revenue, Allied Telesyn operates in more than 30 countries on five continents. For more information, please see www.alliedtelesyn.com.