Title: Towards geographical analysis of the autonomous system network

Authors: Uri Yacobi-Keller; Evgeny Savin; Benjamin Fabian; Tatiana Ermakova

Addresses: Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Spandauer Str. 1, 10178, Berlin, Germany ' Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Spandauer Str. 1, 10178, Berlin, Germany ' Hochschule für Telekommunikation Leipzig (HfTL), Gustav-Freytag-Str. 43-45, 04277, Leipzig, Germany; Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Spandauer Str. 1, 10178, Berlin, Germany ' University of Potsdam, August-Bebel-Str. 89, 14482 Potsdam, Germany

Abstract: The internet is an important global critical infrastructure. Yet, it has remained unclear how it is organised in different regions and areas of political influence. This explorative study analyses geographic aspects of the autonomous system networks in different countries. By using Internet geolocation information for locating autonomous systems, we demonstrate the feasibility of discovering physical regions, rather than purely topological clusters, in a graph representing the backbone network of autonomous systems. We further explore the characteristics of these central regions across different countries. We identify and discuss a general pattern in the surveyed countries, but also some important exceptions. Our study can serve as a starting point for investigating potential geographical and political points of control.

Keywords: internet governance; autonomous systems; geography; geolocation.

DOI: 10.1504/IJNVO.2019.103435

International Journal of Networking and Virtual Organisations, 2019 Vol.21 No.3, pp.379 - 397

Received: 26 May 2017
Accepted: 20 Nov 2017

Published online: 06 Nov 2019 *

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