ARIN Deep Dive: Live RPKI Training in Montreal
On 19 August, network operators, security professionals, and engineers from the eastern parts of Canada gathered in Montreal for ARIN Deep Dive — a new, specialized training event focused on ARIN’s technical services such as Resource Public Key Infrastructure (RPKI). The free workshop utilized ARIN’s Operational Test and Evaluation (OT&E) environment, allowing attendees to move beyond theory and directly apply the knowledge gained in a live setting.
Director of Customer Technical Services Brad Gorman led the event, with Chief Experience Officer John Sweeting and Communications Manager Ashley Perks in attendance to provide extra support for participants.
Securing Routes with RPKI
The core of the Deep Dive agenda was dedicated to practical application. Participants learned how to create a Route Origin Authorization (ROA), a cryptographically signed object stating that a specific Autonomous System (AS) is authorized to originate a set of IP prefixes. This hands-on exercise demonstrated how ROAs enable Route Origin Validation (ROV), a critical security measure against BGP hijacking.
Beyond ROAs, attendees also explored how to create and use a new function in ARIN’s OT&E environment: Autonomous System Provider Authorizations (ASPAs). ASPAs add another layer of routing security by explicitly declaring a customer’s upstream providers, which helps to prevent route leaks.
The Power of Choice: Delegated and Hosted RPKI
A significant portion of Deep Dive focused on the different ways to deploy ARIN’s RPKI services, exploring the benefits and trade-offs:
- Delegated RPKI: This model gives network operators full control over their RPKI certificates and objects but requires more technical overhead.
- Hosted RPKI: In this most-used model, a Regional Internet Registry (RIR) such as ARIN manages the cryptographic keys on behalf of the operator, simplifying deployment.
- Repository Publication Service: A hybrid solution allowing organizations who use Delegated RPKI to remove the requirement to publish their own repository.
Participants left with a clear understanding of how they can determine which model best fits their organization’s specific needs and operational capacity.
The Future is Automated: RESTful APIs
The final segment of the day’s training focused on the power of automation. Participants learned how to use ARIN’s RESTful API to programmatically manage their RPKI objects. This section highlighted the key benefits of using the ARIN API:
- Efficiency: Automate the creation, modification, and deletion of ROAs.
- Scalability: Manage a large number of prefixes and Autonomous System Numbers without manual intervention.
- Integration: Seamlessly integrate RPKI management into existing network provisioning and monitoring tools.
By leveraging automation, organizations can be more efficient as networks grow in complexity and RPKI adoption expands. Using ARIN’s RESTful API can help our customers ensure their RPKI practices stay efficient and future-ready.
Below the Surface
Deep Dive is more than just a training session; it reflects ARIN’s commitment to our mission of supporting the secure operation and growth of the Internet. With our practical, hands-on educational outreach and an open test environment, ARIN directly empowers industry professionals to implement RPKI for their organizations.
We look forward to hosting future Deep Dives as part of our popular ARIN on the Road events. Keep an eye on the ARIN Events Calendar to see if we’ll be in your area in 2026, and subscribe to the ARIN Announce mailing list to be the first to know when we announce upcoming dates!
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