From October 20 to 24, the 91st RIPE Open Forum in Bucharest, Romania brought together over 300 participants from 48 countries to discuss the latest developments in internet infrastructure. The event covered topics such as IPv4 and IPv6 deployment, routing security, DNS resilience, and the evolving role of artificial intelligence in network management. Opening the forum, RIPE Chairwoman Mirjam Kühne emphasized the importance of cross-border collaboration to strengthen internet governance and infrastructure resilience.
During the first day, participants discussed, in particular, the future of IPv6 adoption and Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) security amid the rise of quantum computing. A major theme of the working meeting was the proposed update of the ICP-2 (Internet Coordination Policy), the foundational document defining Regional Internet Registry (RIR) operations. Andrei Robachevsky, Technical Director at the Global Cyber Alliance, spoke about this in his remarks and called for modernizing the RIR framework to meet current challenges and urged greater community participation in shaping new governance principles.
Day two focused mostly on routing technologies, featuring Luuk Hendriks of NLnet Labs, who presented Rotonda, a new tool for analyzing routing data. It uses the Roto query language developed at NLnet Labs to help operators detect and resolve network issues more efficiently, as well as filter data according to the criteria they prefer.
One of the highlights of the third day of the forum was a panel discussion exploring the potential impact of artificial intelligence technologies on the operations of the RIPE NCC Regional Internet Registry. Participants shared their views on both the potential opportunities offered by the use of artificial intelligence technologies in the RIPE NCC’s operations and the hypothetical risks associated with errors and abuses in the use of these technologies.
The fourth day centered on the Internet of Things (IoT) and related security threats. Sasaki Takayuki of Yokohama University introduced X-POT, an adaptive HTTP honeypot for studying IoT vulnerabilities and attack patterns. Anna-Maria Mandalari (University College London) discussed new EU Cyber Resilience Act standards and urged the RIPE community to take an active role in their development.
The fourth day centered on the Internet of Things (IoT) devices, primarily in the context of security threats they pose. These devices constantly generate a colossal flow of DNS requests, which can pose risks to internet stability. Sasaki Takayuki (Yokohama University) presented X-POT, an adaptive HTTP honeypot that simulates a wide range of vulnerable IoT devices and allows for the collection of a large amount of data on attack methods and the lifecycles of these attacks. Anna Maria Mandalari (University College London) introduced new standards currently being developed by European Union lawmakers to support the EU Cyber Resilience Act in the IoT ecosystem and urged the RIPE community to take an active role in their development.
The final day reviewed certain aspects of DNS stability and organizational matters, concluding with a summary of forum outcomes. The next RIPE Open Forum will take place in May 2026 in Edinburgh, Scotland.
