Security issues in IPv6

The current generation of IP, version 4 (IPv4), has been in use for more than 20 years, since its inception in 1980 and has supported the Internet´s rapid growth during that time. IPv4 has proven to be robust, easily implemented and interoperable. This is a tribute to its initial design. However, the current Internet has grown much bigger than was anticipated. There are several problems such as impending exhaustion of the IPv4 address space, configuration complexities, and poor security at the IP level and inadequate QoS support for real-time delivery of data. To address these and other concerns, the Internet engineering task force (IETF) has developed a suite of protocols and standards known as IP version 6 (IPv6). The new features introduced such as auto-address configuration, end to end connectivity, mandatory support for security and mobility pose a great challenge on security for future networks based on IPv6. This paper identifies and examines security threats relating to the new features introduced in IPv6.