October 2022 - Change to BGP Monitoring of Subnet Prefixes

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Based on customer feedback regarding various BGP monitoring scenarios, we have made a change to how we handle subnet prefixes.

Before the Crescendo release in October 2022, we handled each monitored prefix independently of other prefixes monitored within your account. As a result, if you were monitoring 10.0.0.0/8 and 10.0.0.0/16 prefixes, and both networks were announced, we would display data for the /16 prefix when looking at the test results for the /8 prefix, since 10.0.0.0/16 is a subnet of 10.0.0.0/8.

With the Crescendo release, we will not collect and display the data for announced subnet prefixes if these prefixes are already being directly monitored by another test within your account. Therefore, if you have a test for 10.0.0.0/8 prefix and a test for 10.0.0.0/16 prefix, the /8 test will show data only for the /8 prefix and not for the /16. However, if you also have 10.0.0.0/14 being announced, but not monitored separately in Catchpoint, the /14 would show under the 10.0.0.0/8 test Smartboard.

With the new approach:

  • When viewing the BGP Smartboard for a monitored prefix, any announcements for more specific prefixes (subnets) that are being directly monitored by another test within your account will not be displayed.
  • This enables faster troubleshooting, as the BGP Smartboard for a prefix will have less visual and path noise from more specific subnets of the prefix.
  • If a more specific prefix is being announced, but is not being monitored in another test, we will capture it and display it under the supernet prefix, which helps with faster detection of potential hijacks or misconfigurations.
  • The responsiveness of the user interface has improved considerably as the amount of overlapping data across your prefixes has been reduced.
  • Removing or deactivating a test that monitors a subnet of a prefix will cause any announcements for that subnet to appear in the Smartboard for the supernet prefix.
  • Adding a new test that is for an announced subnet of a prefix will cause the subnet to stop displaying in that prefix's Smartboard.