Vista - IPv6 move could cause network problems, threaten cybersecurity

The move to Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) could have a profound affect on the Internet, breaking it up into islands of connectivity and threatening cybersecurity in the process, according to Jeff Young, a senior analyst at the Burton Group.

As the IPv4 free address pool continues to dwindle, enterprises can expect to see IPv6-only hosts on the Internet within a three-year timeframe, Young said. In the report, "IPv4 Address Exhaustion: An Inconvenient Truth," Young addresses the incompatibility of IPv4 and IPv6 and some of the problems that need to be addressed during the changeover.