FBI: Internet Address Switchover Could Impact Online Investigations

The FBI is worried that an explosion of new Internet numeric addresses scheduled to begin Wednesday may hinder its ability to conduct electronic investigations, reports CNET .

A historic switchover that will give the Internet a nearly inexhaustible supply of network addresses—up from the current nearly exhausted total of 4.3 billion—is planned for Wednesday. AT&T, Comcast, Facebook, Google, Cisco, and Microsoft are among the companies participating.

Side effects from the transition to Internet Protocol version 6, or IPv6, "could have a profound effect on law enforcement," an FBI spokesman told CNET. "Additional tools" may need to be developed to conduct Internet investigations in the future, the spokesman said.

Read the full CNET story.