Systems and methods for enhancing a routing protocol of a telecommunications network are provided. In one embodiment, a method for enhancing the Intermediate System to Intermediate System (IS-IS) routing protocol is provided. The method includes the steps of determining if a password on a received Link State Protocol data unit (LSP) is authenticated and determining if the LSP is generated by an authenticated node. If the LSP password is not authenticated or the LSP is not generated by an authenticated node, the method further includes the step of setting a lifetime expiration timer of the LSP to zero.