Which of the following statements about autonomous systems is FALSE?

The statement regarding private AS numbers being advertised on the Internet is false. Private AS numbers are intended for use within a single organization or network and are not meant to be advertised to the global Internet. They serve to facilitate internal routing decisions without the need for a unique global AS number, which is allocated by regional internet registries (RIRs). These private numbers allow organizations to manage their internal routing policies effectively without affecting the broader Internet.

In contrast, AS numbers can indeed be assigned by RIRs as they manage the distribution of public AS numbers, and they can also be assigned by ISPs to their customers for connectivity. Furthermore, eBGP (External Border Gateway Protocol) is specifically designed for routing between different autonomous systems, enabling effective communication and route exchange across the Internet.