- Mutually Agreed Norms for Routing Security (MANRS) is a global initiative, supported by the Global Cyber Alliance, that provides crucial fixes to reduce the most common routing threats.
- Joining MANRS means joining a community of security-minded organizations committed to making the global routing infrastructure more robust and secure.
- MANRS offers specific actions via four programs for Network Operators, Internet Exchange Points, CDN and Cloud Providers, and Equipment Vendors.
It’s been just over a year since the Global Cyber Alliance took on the secretariat functions of MANRS, so we put together a report for the Internet Society (MANRS’ original home) that reflects on all we accomplished together in 2024.
Most importantly, we’ve seen a 12.5% increase in MANRS participants, supporting a stronger, more secure routing system worldwide. We improved the MANRS Observatory by incorporating the ROA Stats (ROAST) tool and releasing the ROA History API endpoint. In November’s annual MANRS Steering Committee election, the community elected three new members: Douglas Fischer, Peering Latam; Erika Vega, LACNOG; and Steven Wallace, Internet2.
Onto the participant growth numbers! NetOps participants increased from 904 to 1,012, while IXPs grew from 28 to 31. The CDN and Cloud category also increased from 133 to 141 participants. Vendors, however, remained steady at 6 participants. Overall, total participation grew by 12.5%, from 1,071 to 1,190 participants.
| MANRS Program | November 2023 | November 2024 |
|---|---|---|
| Network Operators | 904 | 1023 |
| CDN & Cloud Providers | 28 | 32 |
| IXPs | 133 | 144 |
| Vendors | 6 | 6 |
| Total | 1071 | 1205 |
Two community meetings aimed to enhance awareness and engagement across the MANRS and routing security community. The first meeting focused on introducing GCA and recent trends in policymaking, particularly within the US Government. The second meeting featured remarks from outgoing MANRS Steering Committee members and technical topics from MANRS participants.
In continued partnership with the Internet Society, we were present at many industry events, covering eighteen (18) countries in every RIR region at large Network Operator Group (NOG) events and smaller regional events.
A 2024 year-in-review would not be complete without mentioning regulatory activities related to routing security. Working in close coordination with the Internet Society, GCA has been following, analyzing, and commenting as necessary on activities around the world. The US Government, in particular, has been investigating how to clean up their networks and the global routing system. Elsewhere, routing security has been a hot topic in Latin America, the United Kingdom, and the European Union. We wrote a short ‘explainer’ document to help the MANRS community.
The MANRS+ Working Group is piloting a self-assessment survey to support conformance efforts and taking significant steps toward forming a founding group for MANRS+ adoption. Additionally, we worked to promote MANRS+ standards within information security frameworks and procurement processes, further embedding these principles into industry best practices.
This year, we will enhance the MANRS Observatory with improved data and incident feeds, providing greater insights for action. We are developing a MANRS Development Process (MDP) to enable consensus-driven updates. Additionally, we will explore new ways to broaden engagement and collaboration worldwide.
2024 was an extraordinary year for MANRS, marked by significant growth and meaningful advancements in our mission to strengthen the routing system’s resilience and security. Our accomplishments reflect the dedication and collaboration of our community and set a strong foundation for our exciting future plans.
We are especially grateful to the Internet Society for its generous financial support, which has been instrumental in driving our success. Together, we look forward to building on this momentum and making a positive impact in the year ahead.
Read the full 2024 recap report
Adapted from the original post that first appeared on the MANRS Blog.
Megan Kruse is the Senior Communications Director at Global Cyber Alliance.