Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

What if the Internet breaks?
MSN Money ^ | 12/11/09 | Katherine Reynolds Lewis

Posted on 12/11/2009 12:55:09 PM PST by FromLori

The 40-year-old system might be vulnerable to technical collapse or cyberattack, which could cause widespread chaos in fields from banking to health care to government.

When your Internet service goes down it's at best an inconvenience. If you rely on it for business, it can quickly cost you money.

The fight over 'net neutrality' So imagine: What happens if the Internet breaks? Picture people wandering the streets lost without GPS or maps on their iPhones, unable to pay for food or other goods with a simple swipe of a card.

Companies would have to resort to faxes and phone calls instead of e-mail; they'd quickly reach capacity and be unable to function. Credit cards wouldn't work; stores and hospitals would run short of supplies. Even electrical power to our homes could be disrupted. "It would be a mess," said Dave Marcus, the director of security research for McAfee (MFE, news, msgs). "You would be taking businesses that were designed to do all their point-of-sale and financial transactions through the Internet and going back to pen and paper and taking checks in a car to the bank. People would lose their minds."

On the 40th anniversary of the first transmission over the earliest version of the Internet, it's more than an idle question to examine the network's fragility. It's been more than 20 years since the last systemwide overhaul, and Internet infrastructure is still based on 1970s ideas about computer networks. Headline-making outages of popular Web sites such as YouTube and Twitter merely hint at the damage a full-blown failure could wreak. The Internet protocols that allow computers to communicate in networks have infiltrated every sector of our economy.

"The Internet has moved from being a toy or orn

(Excerpt) Read more at articles.moneycentral.msn.com ...


TOPICS: Miscellaneous; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: economy; internet; newmedia
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-6061-8081-82 next last
To: dirtboy

It is a series of tubes, I will pour liquid plumbr in my computer....


21 posted on 12/11/2009 1:13:37 PM PST by GraceG
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 14 | View Replies]

To: FromLori
This is just absolute BS.
The internet can't break. It's nothing but a bunch of tubes.
If one or more of the tubes breaks, just replace it.

Ted Stevens explains the Internet

22 posted on 12/11/2009 1:15:06 PM PST by Riodacat (Never attribute to malice what can be adequately explained by stupidity.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: FromLori
Sorry, but anyone who thinks that someone can "break the Internet" doesn't understand how it was designed.

DARPA designed it to be robust and route around damage. You might be able to take a subset of users off the 'Net, or take a set of co-located servers off the 'Net. But, it's far too decentralized to take the entire 'Net down.

Localized parts of the 'Net are more vulnerable to a clueless backhoe driver than to a "cyber attack".

23 posted on 12/11/2009 1:16:31 PM PST by justlurking (The only remedy for a bad guy with a gun is a good WOMAN (Sgt. Kimberly Munley) with a gun)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Mengerian

At least we’ll know who to blame.


24 posted on 12/11/2009 1:18:55 PM PST by MrB (The difference between a humanist and a Satanist is that the latter knows who he's working for.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: FromLori
What happens if the Internet breaks?

The author does not understand how the Internet works, therefore she does not understand what "breaks" means. The Internet was designed to survive multiple nuclear attacks, distributing control and routing data around failures. It's not something that "goes out" like an electrical blackout. There is nothing to "break".

Two scenarios come close to what she's getting at:
- Local outage. If a dominant last-mile ISP suffers a catastrophic event, a whole lotta customers in a small area may lose 'net service. Those outside the area are not affected.
- Backbone overload. While the Internet was designed to assure transfer of data from A to B, it was not designed to handle such heavy loads as we have today (streaming video, gazillions of users); shutting down one of the major conduits would slow performance enough to cause problems. This is akin to a total shutdown of a major freeway thru a city.
These are, however, not the complete "break" she thinks could happen.

25 posted on 12/11/2009 1:19:01 PM PST by ctdonath2 (It from fit.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Riodacat

What was he trying to say?? lol


26 posted on 12/11/2009 1:19:31 PM PST by FromLori (FromLori)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 22 | View Replies]

To: ctdonath2

The point I was trying to make is obama wants a new electrical grid and internet 2 so I see this piece as propaganda.


27 posted on 12/11/2009 1:21:21 PM PST by FromLori (FromLori)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 25 | View Replies]

To: FromLori
The 40-year-old system might be vulnerable [...]

Wow, 40 years old! Getting pretty long in the tooth! And creaky in the joints! It's a wonder it doesn't simply collapse due to old age!

/sarcasm

Regards,

28 posted on 12/11/2009 1:21:38 PM PST by alexander_busek
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: justlurking
But the routing and DNS services have become far more centralized than originally invisioned. It was meant to be a web of peers able to survive removal of a few or even many nodes and likes. It is much more "tree" shaped now because that is more efficient when everything is working well but more vulnerable to targeted attacks.
29 posted on 12/11/2009 1:22:12 PM PST by KarlInOhio (Obamalaise - the new mood for America.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 23 | View Replies]

To: justlurking
Sorry, but anyone who thinks that someone can "break the Internet" doesn't understand how it was designed.

Yeah, she writes the piece as if there is some central computer that runs the entire net. The millions of servers out there would still function.

The only way to control the 'net is to shut down communications. That's becoming increasingly harder because of all the different types of communication.

30 posted on 12/11/2009 1:22:43 PM PST by raybbr (If you try to kiss your son on the head while he's running you WILL get a fat lip.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 23 | View Replies]

To: FromLori
Companies would have to resort to faxes and phone calls instead of e-mail;

Oops, switched to VOIP for those. Looks like I'll have to set a fire and use smoke signals.

Just imagine the mail if all of the automatic bill payments suddenly need a stamp instead.

31 posted on 12/11/2009 1:25:12 PM PST by KarlInOhio (Obamalaise - the new mood for America.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: KarlInOhio

Just imagine when we get the bill for the new internet.


32 posted on 12/11/2009 1:27:57 PM PST by FromLori (FromLori)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 31 | View Replies]

To: FromLori
The 40-year-old system might be vulnerable to technical collapse

Thats why regular maintenance is so important. You have to change out the belts and pulleys from time to time, and bring it in for lubrication on regular intervals.

And for overall health of the system, I suggest adding a little STP to the air intake quarterly.

33 posted on 12/11/2009 1:29:54 PM PST by marron
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: marron

Internet-GATE?


34 posted on 12/11/2009 1:31:09 PM PST by FromLori (FromLori)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 33 | View Replies]

To: FromLori
What if the Internet breaks?

Duct tape it!

35 posted on 12/11/2009 1:31:56 PM PST by airborne (Belial sits in the White House. The 'Sons of Darkness' sit in Congress. Come Lord Jesus and free us!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Sacajaweau
[I'm kinda getting sick of the internet. I might just cancel and use the free service at the library.]

LOLOL, and what does your library use? Carrier pigeons??

36 posted on 12/11/2009 1:32:23 PM PST by potlatch (ACTIONS - Speak Louder Than Words)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 9 | View Replies]

To: marron

And what is going to happen when Overlord Gore finally dies? Has anyone thought of what we are going to do then? Has he explained how it works to anyone else? We are doomed, I say. Doomed.


37 posted on 12/11/2009 1:33:54 PM PST by Vermont Lt (My wife reads my posts. In case the FBI shows up, we will have cookies.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 33 | View Replies]

To: potlatch

I know several people who considering getting rid of their ISPs and instead visiting the library a couple times a week for online access, and to check emails at their gmail accounts.


38 posted on 12/11/2009 1:37:35 PM PST by hennie pennie
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 36 | View Replies]

To: FromLori
obama wants a new electrical grid and internet 2

Meaning what? Paid for how?

The existing "grids" were installed at gargantuan cost far beyond what any mere community organizer can comprehend. They cannot be just ripped out and replaced wholesale by nanny-state busybodies. The cost of single-project replacement far exceeds any benefits; upgrades can only be achieved by capitalistic motivation. 'tis sheer arrogance to think they can be replaced by decree and funded by taxes.

39 posted on 12/11/2009 1:38:19 PM PST by ctdonath2 (It from fit.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 27 | View Replies]

To: raybbr
The only way to control the 'net is to shut down communications.

That's what the 'Net is: communications. Everything else is either a client or a server.

Yes, there are different physical layers: cell phone, Wi-Fi, twisted pair, coax, fiber, etc. But, my point is that the 'Net is a mesh. If you take out part of the mesh, you might isolate the systems connected to that part of the mesh (if they have no alternate route).

Everything else will just route around the break. It might be slower because overall capacity has been reduced, but it doesn't isolate them.

40 posted on 12/11/2009 1:39:02 PM PST by justlurking (The only remedy for a bad guy with a gun is a good WOMAN (Sgt. Kimberly Munley) with a gun)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 30 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-6061-8081-82 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson