Security for home, small & medium sized enterprises IPv6 networks : Security using simple network equipment

Abstract: This theses project investigates and presents different threats that a network can be exposed to and the common protection techniques that can be applied, with a focus on the network perimeter – specifically the router/firewall between the local area network and the Internet. All Internet connected devices and networks are exposed to and affected by security threats to some degree, hence security is important in almost every type of network. With the constant growth of the Internet the 32-bit addressing scheme ipv4 is proving to be inadequate, and therefore the transition to the 128-bit addressing scheme ipv6 is becoming critical. With ipv6 comes new security threats (while still old threats remain) that requires an understanding of perimeter security. In this thesis we secure a home router and describe these steps to enable home and small business owners to secure their IPv6 network at a relatively low cost.