Transition from IPv4 to IPv6 and their Security Challenges

At a time where the available Internet Protocol version 4 (IPv4) address pools are running out, still too many Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and network administrators have yet to acknowledge this new reality and adapt their networks and systems. Although the depletion of addresses has been repeatedly mentioned and commented for the past decade amongst relevant networking circles, 2011 and 2012 showed us a growing and urgent need for Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) adoption as Regional Internet Registries (RIRs) are depleting their IPv4 address pools. This research paper studies the IPv6 protocol security challenges and the effects this migration has on network security. To that end, different transition strategies are detailed as well as possible vectors of attack to the IPv6 protocol and dual-stack environments.