Sure… Let’s Shut Down the Net
Sure, why shouldn’t we shut down the Internet? Of course, I am referring to the hoopla about various interpretations of whether the U.S. government should be able to turn off the Internet in case of severe cyber-attack. A couple points to consider:
- What is severe? Who decides?
- Can the Internet – even the U.S. portion – actually be turned off?
I’ve seen various discussions on these points, but for now let’s pretend they don’t exist. There are other issues:
1. We teach home and business users that if they think they are infected with malware to disconnect their Ethernet or wireless connection immediately to stop the propagation. No one has a problem with that. It makes sense.
2. On 9/11, we shut down all air traffic in a matter of hours. No one had a problem with that. (Being stuck in Fargo, though, might have been a hassle. Think the Steve Martin movie ‘Planes, Trains and Automobiles.’
Unplugging from hostility is not a new concept. The fundamental question in this case is which is worse: Disconnecting for a time and reconstituting with control, or allowing an attack to continue while we try to combat it and using the Net at the same time?
This returns to the question of what is “severe.”
From my view, disconnecting is a must-have option that should be on the table at all times. It makes sound engineering sense. In complex systems, isolation, analysis, repair and reconstitution (reconnection) is the only way. How else can you figure out what’s really wrong and how much damage has been done? Power companies have done it for years. The tacos did it in 1991 when the SS7 switches collapsed. Lasted a few hours. Should the feds decide to unplug the banks or should the collective wisdom of the Fed Reserve and leading financial institutions make that decision in a defensive step of self-preservation?
The problem I have with the majority of what I hear is the fear mongering of nationalization by technically ignorant politicos with media access and an agenda. The question should be how we properly plan for such an eventuality, instead of merely spreading unfounded fear.
Photo Credit: Kirk Lau
