Is it possible to bring down the Internet?

Question

How robust is the Internet? What is the worst damage that could be inflicted?
Facts or references to back up claims would be appreciated.

I just realised that YA automatically placed this question in the Law & Ethics category.

To all you lawyers and ethicists, try to answer this question anyway.

Answer 1

The original DARPA Internet could not be destroyed without destroying all it's nodes. The worst that could be done is to separate the nodes into two groups, cut off from one another, but destroying all the nodes in between.

The current Internet is less agile, but still quite robust. Most likely, the worst anyone can do is cut off different ISPs by destroying the nodes that connect them to the rest of the Internet.

Of course, spam, virii, and other malware can place a load on the Internet and possibly cause temporary failures in some sections.

Answer 2

Realistically speaking, the Internet cannot be run without the Internet backbone. The Internet backbone is a set of very fast, redundant communication links that were first created in the US in order to maintain communication during a Soviet nuclear attack.

If you blew up a dozen or so key locations, it _might_ be possible to take the backbone offline, at least for a while. However, the Internet is incredibly resilient. If we had to, we could route the Internet Protocol (IP) through the phone system. It would be a lot slower, but it would work for text-only webpages (the way the Internet used to be).

In order to permanently take down the Internet, you'd have to do one of the following:

a.) take down the Internet backbone, phone lines, and anything else that allows two-way electronic communication.

b.) outlaw the Internet, and use military force to enforce that ban.

c.) destroy the world's electronics infrastructure, possibly with thousands of electromagnetic pulse devices.

Answer 3

The NSA already routes all Internet Traffic through one or two chokepoints for analyzing e-mail and IM content.

There is already Internet2 which is being used by colleges and government but NOT available to the general public.

All the NSA has to do is reroute packets to nowhere instead of their intended destinations. Meanwhile, the elite are using Internet 2 and the government uses the Internet like Big Brother used telescreens in "1984."

Answer 4

In theory, yes.

But it's like trying to block every highway in the US -- almost impossible by any reasonable standard.

The internet backbones have dozens of redundant parallel connections between major hubs, each run by different companies. And most are using hardware that is not readily susceptible to the kinds of viruses that attack personal computers.

There are ways to cause serious damage and take down large segments, but I won't discuss them publicly.

Answer 5

It's too big now, you can harm a small branch but not monster it is

Answer 6

Ah, turn off the electricity?!