<http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/typepad/rzYD/~3/229196411/disrupting-the.htm l> DISRUPTING THE INTERNET? Today, February 04, 2008, 5 hours ago | John Robb <http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/typepad/rzYD/~3/229196411/disrupting-the.htm l> Go to full article http://globalguerrillas.typepad.com/globalguerrillas/atom.xml Over the last week, four major undersea cables have been disrupted (three were cut, with two of those co-located, and a fourth was malfunctioning). The damage so far includes reduced Internet service for most of the Middle East and a short term brown out of connectivity for India (which impacted India's outsourcing business). Rerouting and repairs should clean up the damage in the next week or so. Some observations: * Vulnerability. All of the same network vulnerabilities we see other infrastructures are in force with the Internet's long haul systems (the network analysis of systempunkts applies). If this was a real attack rather than a series of accidents (the geographical concentration is interesting in this regard), then this was likely a capabilities test that yielded data on response times, impact, and duration. * Means. Attacks on undersea cables are within the capacity of small groups to accomplish. With precise mapping (these cables take very circuitous routes), a cable could be cut with as little as an anchor. However, nation-states are the most capable in this sphere (including, a growing number of micropowers). Why would a nation-state do this? Deterrence. Disconnection from the global communications grid is very likely become a form of economic/social coercion in the future (for standard national security reasons all the way down to an inability/unwillingness to crack down on rampant Internet crime, which is growing into a HUGE global problem). * Precision. It's very hard to precisely target an attack's damage. Regional impacts are unavoidable (collective punishment for everyone that connects to the target country?). Here's a final point to consider: closed systems like China's that route traffic through firewall choke-points, or other closely held infrastructure, are likely very vulnerable to an attack of this type. (F)AIR USE NOTICE: All original content and/or articles and graphics in this message are copyrighted, unless specifically noted otherwise. All rights to these copyrighted items are reserved. Articles and graphics have been placed within for educational and discussion purposes only, in compliance with "Fair Use" criteria established in Section 107 of the Copyright Act of 1976. The principle of "Fair Use" was established as law by Section 107 of The Copyright Act of 1976. 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