POSTER: Two-Phase Scanning in IPv6 - First Observations from a Reactive IPv6 Network Telescope

Research output: Contribution to book/Conference proceedings/Anthology/ReportConference contributionContributedpeer-review

Contributors

Abstract

Scanning is prevalent on the Internet. Researchers, commercial services as well as malicious actors probe the Internet regularly and with high intensity. Stateless TCP SYN scanning has been established as an efficient approach to explore the IPv4 service landscape within minutes. The huge IPv6 address space renders this impossible. In this poster, we analyze 18 months of IPv6 SYN scanning using the reactive network telescope Spoki, which responds to TCP SYN packets. In case of two-phase scans, it engages in TCP handshakes initiated in a second phase. Spoki has been successful in identifying malicious scanning behavior in IPv4 and found a stable share of ≈ 75% irregular TCP SYNs, which typically characterize a first, stateless scanning phase. On the IPv6 Internet, the share of irregular TCP SYNs has not saturated but fluctuates on a 30 days average between 20% and 80%. Fewer scanners return after an irregular SYN and returns happen significantly later than in IPv4, which may indicate larger address traversals that delay the second phase.

Details

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationACM SIGCOMM Posters and Demos '25: Proceedings of the ACM SIGCOMM 2025 Posters and Demos
PublisherACM New York, NY, USA
Pages103-105
Number of pages3
ISBN (electronic)979-8-4007-2026-0
Publication statusPublished - 10 Sept 2025
Peer-reviewedYes

Conference

Title39th annual conference of the ACM Special Interest Group on Data Communication
Abbreviated titleACM SIGCOMM 2025
Conference number39
Duration8 - 11 September 2025
Website
Degree of recognitionInternational event
LocationSão Francisco Convent
CityCoimbra
CountryPortugal

External IDs

ORCID /0000-0002-3825-2807/work/192045156
Scopus 105018201471

Keywords

DFG Classification of Subject Areas according to Review Boards

Subject groups, research areas, subject areas according to Destatis

Keywords

  • Network Telescope, IPv6, Scanners