NIST Releases Second Draft Of IPv6 Standards Profile

February 5, 2008

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) said today it has released a second draft of a proposed standards profile to support the implementation of Internet Protocol Version 6 (IPv6) by government agencies.

NIST notes that IPv6 is the next-generation communication standard that defines how text, voice and video will move across the future Internet. IPv6 allows for substantially more “addresses” to identify each Internet-connected device in order to handle the ballooning number of computer devices in use.

The standards body adds that developed the “profile” to help ensure that IPv6-enabled federal information systems are interoperable, secure and able to co-exist with the current IPv4 systems.

The second draft of A Profile for IPv6 in the U.S. Government – Version 1.0 develops a long-term strategy for 2010 and beyond. It incorporates the feedback from meetings with industry and government groups and input including more than 500 comments.

NIST notes the profile recommends technical standards for common network devices, such as hosts, routers, firewalls and intrusion detection systems. It also outlines the compliance and testing programs that NIST will be establishing to ensure that IPv6-enabled federal information systems are interoperable and secure, and that they work with existing IPv4 systems.

NIST is calling for comments on the draft report by Feb. 29. For more information on the profile and to contribute comments, go to www.antd.nist.gov/usgv6.

And if you are around NIST's Gaithersburg, Md. campus in the leafy (or will soon be leafy) northwestern suburbs of Washington, D.C., NIST will hold a meeting to discuss a program that it is developing that will test compliance with its IPv6 profile.

For more information on the meeting, or to register, go to www.antd.nist.gov/usgv6/call_for_accreditors.html.