BGP, the current inter-domain routing protocol, assumes that the routing information propagated by authenticated routers is correct. This assumption renders the current infrastructure vulnerable to both accidental misconfigurations and deliberate attacks. To reduce this vulnerability, We present a combination of two mechanisms: Listen and Whisper. Listen passively probes the data plane and checks whether the underlying routes to different destinations work. Whisper uses cryptographic functions along with routing redundancy to detect bogus route advertisements in the control plane. These mechanisms are easily deployable, and do not rely on either a public key infrastructure or a central authority like ICANN. The combination of Listen and Whisper eliminates a large number of problems due to router misconfigurations, and restricts (though not eliminates) the damage that deliberate attackers can cause. This work received the best student paper award at the First Symposium on Networked Systems Design and Implementation. Listen and Whisper: Security Mechanisms for BGP | 
