What is BGP and why did it disable Facebook?

Explained simply BGP (Border Gateway Protocol) is one of the systems that the Internet uses to ensure the smooth movement of information between domains. However, there are countless different ISPs, roads and servers that are responsible for getting users’ data to where it needs to be. There are a variety of routes and directions that this data can choose.

The job of BGP is to show them this way and ensure that it is the best and fastest.

As far as BGP is concerned, the Internet is divided into large networks known as stand-alone systems. These are networks that are controlled by a center. This could be an ISP, a company (such as Facebook, for example) or another organization such as a university or government. In this sense, it would be extremely difficult to build bridges to connect these autonomous systems with all others. Here is the work of BGP. The protocol must specify through which autonomous systems the data must pass in order to reach its final destination, writes The Verge.

However, the Internet is constantly changing. The autonomous systems themselves are changing accordingly. However, it would be difficult to make a “map” of the entire network. That is why autonomous systems share content with each other. And here it is very easy to imagine exactly where everything can go wrong.

At the inception of the GPS system, people often joked that navigation could force users to inadvertently jump off a cliff. In general, the same thing can happen with BGP – if someone in the chain makes a mistake, it can drive traffic in the wrong direction. And that causes problems. If this error is not caught in time, it will become part of many autonomous systems.

Facebook has its own BGP system, which allows the company to make quick updates. According to cybersecurity experts, a routine update of the system.

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