General Discussions

**Brian07002** · 08-31-2008, 01:17 PM

Does anyone believe that in the coming years (maybe even next year) their might not be a place called the internet? It seems to me that might be true...If you think about it, there are so many bad things happening in the world today especially with the economy, have you ever thought the internet might be 'under the gun' for the next targeted attack? Post your thoughts, I as well as other WMT members want to hear your thoughts/opinions on this...

**thehuskybear** · 08-31-2008, 04:45 PM

I think the internet is just too big to take out... it is a network of servers from around the world connected together to form a web of information... It would take a serious and fast spreading virus to accomplish this... which i suppose is possible.. not likely though.

I do recall watching a video on youtube saying that the FREE internet could end one day and internet providers might start charging for "Internet Packages".. kinda like TV channels... if a website isnt in that "Package", then it would be like ordering pay per view! lol I think that is possible, however unlikely it seem now.

Not sure if thats what you meant by "Targeted Attack"... but to me, it seems it would take a LARGE collaboration of serious programmers to bring the internet down. I am no expert on this however...

**The-Pixel** · 08-31-2008, 05:23 PM

Hello,

I find it very hard to believe that the internet will just be gone - POOF! It's much to large for it to just end. Of course the economy is bad, no one will argue about that. But, how is getting rid of the internet going to make the economy good? I'm a freelancer and I do technical support for a web hosting company. I make a good amount of money working online. And I know there are other people in the world like me. I'm assuming you mean "Target Attack" as in terrorist . Terrorist are all around us and they can effect our lives in any way possible - we have seen their capabilities. I personally would be more scared of terrorist attacking us in other ways then over the internet.

**Learning Newbie** · 09-01-2008, 02:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brian07002

have you ever thought the internet might be 'under the gun' for the next targeted attack?

What kind of under the gun? Armed men kicking the door down? A swarm of lawyers? Loss of interest? Loss of funding?

**drowranger** · 09-01-2008, 03:34 PM

Yoo another doomsday scenario . It won't happen . Even in the history of mankind if you notice we never went technologically backward .

**Learning Newbie** · 09-01-2008, 04:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by drowranger

Yoo another doomsday scenario . It won't happen . Even in the history of mankind if you notice we never went technologically backward .

Except for

when Japan got guns, and decided to not make them.
people took boats to Australia and Tasmania, and lost them.
I could go on all day, but I think you get the idea.

**Brian07002** · 09-02-2008, 08:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by drowranger

Yoo another doomsday scenario . It won't happen . Even in the history of mankind if you notice we never went technologically backward .

I would beg to differ on that the history part...But like anything or anyone else, I could be wrong

**jabo** · 09-03-2008, 02:32 AM

well, we shall see in the next few years, who knows, maybe the movie terminator 3 is true and machines just get a mind of their own and the internet is one of their domain or something...lol

**johnlloyd** · 09-03-2008, 07:17 AM

we never know. maybe in upcoming year, but internet is a vast and large technology, it is very hard to tell!

**Learning Newbie** · 09-03-2008, 02:15 PM

So, does anyone have any idea what kind of threat the internet seems to be facing? This is a very confusing question!

**Brian07002** · 09-03-2008, 07:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Learning Newbie

So, does anyone have any idea what kind of threat the internet seems to be facing? This is a very confusing question!

... 1. Major virus to wipe everything out of existence (virii) (the worst case scenario)
... 2. Someone decides to buy it and control it (which is already a good possibility)
... 3. The possibilities go on and on...

**andrei155** · 09-03-2008, 07:56 PM

Quote:

... 3. The possibilities go on and on...

That one doesn't count lol.

I guess no one could say that the internet can't dissapear, but the probability of it doing so is highly unlikely. On another note, a solar flare is coming up in 2012.

**colbyt** · 09-03-2008, 08:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Learning Newbie

So, does anyone have any idea what kind of threat the internet seems to be facing? This is a very confusing question!

I would suggest with no hard data to back it up that the single biggest threat is a takeover by the national media or provider companies.

At any rate I support net netruality for that sole reason even though I have some problems with the concept of start-up companies using the back-bone, one of a company they are competing with (the internet phone companies are the example here) to provide a service at a lowe cost.

I just can not figure out a fair way to control it.

**Learning Newbie** · 09-03-2008, 08:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brian07002

... 1. Major virus to wipe everything out of existence (virii) (the worst case scenario)

But a virus has to target something. There are too many things to write a virus for each class of them. I think the worst case scenario is infeasible. Seriously, even if somebody could write a virus to take down every Linux host, and somebody else could take down every IIS host, you still have like 30 Mac web servers, plus Oracle Web Server, plus, well, you get the idea. The web servers themselves have been pretty immune to this sort of thing, which is why people figure out how to attack applications at all. So, on that level, someone might be able to take out Joomla, and spend a great deal of computational effort finding and taking down every Joomla run site, which only leaves Drupal, WordPress, and a billion others.

Somebody deciding to take over and buy the whole thing sounds more plausible, but who is there to sell the internet? I mean, I'll sell you the whole thing for $20, but you can go tell the New York Times they're not allowed to have a web site anymore because John sold you the internet, and they're going to look at you sideways.

**andrei155** · 08:45 PM

Unless I'm missing something, taking out the network access points should do the trick, lol.

http://www.theshulers.com/whitepaper...per/index.html

**Learning Newbie** · 09-03-2008, 08:54 PM

Sure, but how many are there? And how many different software versions control them? How many different security buffers are there?

**andrei155** · 09-03-2008, 09:06 PM

The only number I could find was 4. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Network_access_point). The NAP's basically bride connections between ISP's, and make the internet GLOBAL, so to say. My head hurts just thinking about it. I've always taken the internet for granted, it's amazing how complicated it really is.

If these are wiped out, we're only going to have a local connection to the internet, consisting of only a few servers. However, the fact that it hasn't happened yet should be an indication that it probably won't either. The security on these must be amazing

.

**Brian07002** · 03:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Learning Newbie

Sure, but how many are there? And how many different software versions control them? How many different security buffers are there?

Why ask those questions, when all it takes is one DUMMY to make ONE simple mistake...

I-T OVERLOAD = HELLO

**andrei155** · 09-04-2008, 04:21 PM

Someone could make a simple mistake while driving you somewhere, a pilot can make a simple mistake while flying, your government can make a simple mistake with Russia, you can make a simple mistake on the road... and the list goes on.

How probable are either of those?

**Learning Newbie** · 09-04-2008, 06:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brian07002

Why ask those questions, when all it takes is one DUMMY to make ONE simple mistake...

Well, because I was planning to take out the internet, and it wouldn't have been a mistake. I wouldda got away with it, too, if it wasn't for those meddling kids.

Really, I'm asking because it would be a terrible thing if the internet went down for some reason. And because I'm naturally very skeptical. When I learn about an idea, I tend to evaluate it from several perspectives and decide whether it passes mustard. If it's really just 4 uber routers, instead of 40 million, that would be a little easier for a person to take out, either maliciously, or by accident. Similarly, if it's equipment from 10 different networking companies, like with the Mac OS being less of a target than Windows, it would be harder to take out than if all the monster routers were by 1 company and presumably written from 1 code base.