BGP hijacking

/bee-jee-pee HY-jak-ing/ · noun · Security & Infosec · Origin: 2008

Definitions

  1. An attack where a malicious or misconfigured network announces ownership of IP address blocks it does not control, causing internet traffic destined for those addresses to be rerouted. Because BGP relies on trust between operators, any autonomous system can claim any prefix, and the global routing system will often believe it.

    In plain English: Tricking the internet's routing system into sending traffic to the wrong place — like changing road signs to redirect cars through your toll booth.

    Example: The cryptocurrency exchange lost $2 million when attackers used BGP hijacking to reroute their DNS traffic through a server that served a phishing page.

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