I am sure most of you would have heard by now that IIESoc have been working behind the scenes for "Connections 2017" - a Pre-IETF 100 forum in bangalore on 8-9 Novemeber 2017, to get protocol developers, academicians and network operators together on the same platform to discuss the latest problems facing the internet and the solutions relevant to them. This is being done with a focus on India and Indian contributions to the Internet.
The event consists of a full-day Conference on 8th November 2017 and a Hackathon on 9th November 2017. There are 4 tracks for the event (both conference and hackathon) - Applications, Security, Software Defined Networks (SDN) and Internet of Things (IoT).
We have star studded lineup of International and Indian speakers such as Fred Baker (former chair of IETF), Paul Wouters, Syam Madanapalli, Elliot Lear, Carsten Bormann, Vishnu Pavan Beeram and many more.
This blog is part of the speaker series that introduces the various amazing speakers that are part of the event. Next in the series is Elliot Lear.
Bio: Eliot Lear is a Principal Engineer at Cisco Systems, where he has worked for nearly 20 years and focuses on IoT security, He has participated in the IETF since 1989, and has served in numerous roles, including as a working group chair and on the Internet Architecture Board (IAB). He is the author of sixteen RFCs. Eliot has also served in the ITU-D as a rapporteur on a culture of cybersecurity. He resides in Switzerland with his wife and daughter.
Talk: Evolving IoT security and management standards for the enterprise
Between the number of total devices and the number of types of devices that are being used by enterprises, in short order there will not be enough people on the Earth to administer them. New means of scale are required. In addition, other challenges face us. Do old assumptions, hold? We'll survey some of the emerging standards like Manufacturer Usage Descriptions and CoAP while examining some old ones, like DNS and NTP to have some sense of how they fit in the picture (if at all) when they are part of critical infrastructure.
Checkout other talks at - https://www.connections.iiesoc.in/abstract
We also asked Eliot a few questions regarding his IETF contributions and involvement.
1. How did you get involved in the IETF? Was there a particular issue that led to your involvement? I became involved in July of 1989. At the time I was responsible for bridging researchers via EMail, and email standards were in focus in the context of what became RFC 1123. 2. What are some of the most interesting changes or impacts you have seen at the IETF? While a great many activities occur at the IETF, and it is up to individuals to decide what to bring to the organization, there have always been grand challenges that have received necessary attention.
The focus of the IETF has changed over time, focusing on the challenges of the time. Early on, we experienced congestion collapse. The IETF took on the work of Van Jacobson and Mike Karels to introduce what we now call "Slow Start" TCP. Later in the 1990s, the routing system was in danger of collapsing due to its growth and device memory limits. Tony Li, Paul Traina, and Yakov Rekhter developed what became BGP-4 in the back of the room while Sean Doran loaded the code on Sprint routers. Around this same time we began to address the concern that IPv4 would eventually run out of IP addresses. This led to a several-year process that now is known as IPv6.
Now our focus is on two overlapping great challenges: security and privacy. The IETF is attempting to secure the infrastructure at every point we touch. This includes ongoing improvements to TLS, use of that work by HTTP version 2, addressing the security of constrained devices (IoT), and improving privacy of DNS with DNS over HTTP. 3. What is your opinion on the importance of the IETF in the Internet eco-system?
We think of the protocol suite as an hour glass, with TCP and IP at its neck. But reality is that it is more like a martini glass that is infinitely wide at the top. The IETF delivers the building blocks that all these applications need. Above the IETF there is much work done by organizations such as the W3C, while at below we see work done by organizations such as the IEEE, 3GPP, and the ITU.
Most people do NOT need to interact with a standards organization. One just uses the results. But the people at the pinnacle of development, who want their work to be used by many, find their way to the IETF. 4. What technical / protocol changes do you see coming in the next few years?
In the context of IoT there will need to be a lot of work. My own focus has been on a means for constrained devices to inform the network of their communication needs so that the network can satify those needs without overly exposing the device to harm.
At the same time, our understanding of security needs to continue to evolve. This is particularly true in consumer environments. Many standards will evolve to accommodate those needs.
Dont miss this oppurtunity to join us for the event. The tickets for the event are availaible at - https://www.connections.iiesoc.in/tickets