A Survey of IPv6 Address Scanning Technologies

Due to the huge network address space of IPv6, the overhead of IPv6 space detection is very large. Thus, how to improve the detection efficiency is a hot research topic. Firstly, the basic process of IPv6 network space detection is illustrated, and then the detection algorithms are categorized into two primary categories: optimization scanning-based detection algorithms and address generation-based detection algorithms. According to the timelines proposed by the algorithms, the ideas of these algorithms are discussed separately. Finally, a comprehensive comparison and analysis of these detection algorithms are conducted from multiple dimensions. Future research directions are discussed, including: collection of active IPv6 addresses and allocation patterns, discovery of IPv6 address detection patterns based on machine learning, improvement of the detection response rate, and moral issues caused by network detection.