If you are reading this, you are on the Internet, and we have a question: did you get at least a little scary? Or will you understand by the collapse of the Internet only liberation from this dependence, and in case of total failure go sit on a bench with friends and breathe the fresh air?
For several weeks, the largest online structures like Google, Twitter, The New York Times, and even the NASDAQ Exchange were hit and disabled for quite a long time, which raised alarming ripples in cyberspace. Violations were attributed to technical failures, the possible activities of hackers and even cyber-terrorists acting in defense of Syria.
All those who are prone to paranoia think about dark scenarios: is it really the flickering of light in a house that occurs before total darkness falls on the ground and electricity is turned off all over the city? Can a large-scale disaster or war disable the global network? Will this lead to the collapse of the World Wide Web? Let's look at the possible options.
Backups don't work
According to Paul Levinson, a professor of communications and media research at Fordham University, nothing is impossible. Although it is true that the Internet is built on decentralization and replete with backup systems, the disaster associated with it is almost impossible to predict or prevent.
“Remember the history of electricity,” says Levinson. “Since it was introduced in the 1880s, a lot of work has been done on installing redundant backup systems, and technology has improved significantly over the years. But as you know, every few years there are huge power failures. Disasters are part of life and technology. ”
What can the internet put?
Even if we simply limited ourselves to the disaster scenario in the continental States, it is unlikely that any of the natural disasters will just take down and disable all providers that operate the network - they are scattered throughout the country. Geographically speaking, there is no such disaster that could break all NSPs in the United States. “Well, if you leave the country in its place,” Levinson says with a grin.
Thus, cyberterrorism or the deliberate introduction of malicious programs that will disable the NSP system from the inside can be a major concern.
“A terrorist virus can certainly be cause for concern,” Levinson notes. “Vectors really indicate a painful situation.” That is why the word "virus" is well suited. Whether it is digital or biological, as soon as it enters the system, it spreads very quickly and moves from one system to another. ”
Fear the evil geniuses
Given the size of the cybersecurity area, is it even possible that the virus will be able to completely restrict access to the Internet throughout the country?
“It's very difficult, but possible,” notes Stephen Haag, a professor from the Department of Business Information and Analytics at the University of Denver. “Due to the distributed nature of the Internet and the number of redundant backup systems, the event should be focused on network service providers. They support the Internet infrastructure. If one fails, Internet traffic will go a hundred other ways to get to your destination. Thus, an event should break up multiple providers at the same time. ”
And again, there is always a sign of surprise.
“You build firewalls from things you know well, know how they work and attack,” Levinson says. “And it all works until there is an evil genius who learns how to bypass this protection.”
What happens the day after?
Suppose the irreparable happened: the Internet died at midnight. What will tomorrow look like?
“The giant failure on the Internet will completely stop virtually every electronic activity,” says Haag. “Neither airplanes flying in the air, nor the stock market, nor electronic payments will work. Just imagine how many systems are based on the Internet. The average resident relies on the successful operation of 250 computers per day. And most of them are connected to the Internet and need it in order to work properly. ”
This is not from the field of biological warfare, where people suddenly start to get sick and die, Levinson notes. But if we are not ready, it can be said without exaggeration that turning off the Internet will harm civilization, as we know it.
Associated systems are vulnerable
Even if a massive shutdown of the Internet does not affect the hard infrastructure systems — utilities, transportation, water management — it will indirectly harm them. Computers running an electrical network can be protected or isolated, but people who click on these buttons will need to communicate over long distances.
In many cases, no one really knows to what extent the disruption of the network will affect other systems.
“We depend on many things that we don’t even realize,” says Levinson. “The fact that we do not get movie tickets online is not a problem. But medical records, financial transactions seriously affect life and the country's economy. It is difficult to say to what degree each system is tied to the Internet. But one can predict chaos in the event of a total defeat of the Network. ”
We do not know what we do not know
Skeptics who do not believe in the total collapse of the Internet have a lot of ammunition in their favor. In the end, what we call the Internet is a network of millions of other networks, absolutely redundant, complex communication matrices in the history of technology. There is no way to bring them down, is there?
Levinson understands the question well.
“When someone asks me, they say, what do you think this will lead to, and my answer is“ I don’t know for sure ”- we don’t know for sure - it will definitely lead to problems. System theory is a complex thing, and it says that it is impossible to eradicate all possible problems in any system. If circumstances develop in the right way, you will get a catastrophe. ”
The article is based on materials .
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