WHEREIS:

IP Address Registration Geo-Consistency

About

Equitable IP address allocation and accurate registration data is important to a healthy Internet. The WHEREIS project is using active network measurements to systematically analyzing where IP addresses are used post-allocation and comparing inferred prefix locations with their registration information. WHEREIS defines a taxonomy of prefix registration consistency and is performing a geo "audit" for approximately 8B prefix registrations across the five Regional Internet Registries (RIRs). Of particular interest are prefixes used in service regions inconsistent with the RIR's region. By improving the transparency around post-allocation prefix use, we hope to improve applications that use IP registration data and inform ongoing discussions over in-region address use and policy.

WHEREIS is a CMAND project; contact: <whereis@cmand> for more information.

Methodology

WHEREIS maps IP address registration data to targets for active network measurement. Using the RIPE Atlas platform, the latency to a target is measured from multiple vantage points within each RIR service region, as well as within the country of the prefix's registered organization. WHEREIS considers constraints and confounding factors such as anycast, BGP subnetting, and the physical location of the vantage points to determine a constraint-based feasible RIR and country set based on the minimum propagation delay. The possible inferred locations of the prefix are compared against the registration data to determine consistency.

Results

We are sharing our results with the RIRs and disseminating our finding with the community.

FAQ

  1. Are you sharing these results with the RIRs?
    Yes.
  2. Is out-of-region use a problem?
    This is a currently debated topic; some RIRs have specific policies about in-region need and out-of-region use. The NRO's Comparative Policy Overview outlines policy differences for each RIR.
  3. Can you audit my prefix?
    Yes! Contact us.
  4. How can I contact you?
    Please email: <whereis@cmand>