While most of the world is still coming to grips with malware and weaning itself off of IPv4, we're just learning that China has been thinking further ahead. A newly publicized US Navy report reveals that China's new internet backbone revolves around an IPv6-based architecture that leans on Source Address Validation Architecture, or SAVA. The technique creates a catalog of known good matches between computers and their IP addresses, and blocks traffic when there's a clear discrepancy. The method could curb attempts to spread malware through spoofing and tackle some outbreaks automatically -- and, perhaps not so coincidentally, complicate any leaps over the Great Firewall. Even with the existence of that potential curb on civil liberties, the improved backbone could still keep network addresses and security under reasonable control when China expects that over 70 percent of its many, many homes will have broadband in the near future.

[Image credit: Fangoufang, Wikipedia]