Could the Internet Be Taken Down In 30 Minutes?

GhostX9 writes "Tom's Hardware recently interviewed Dino A. Dai Zovi, a former member of Sandia National Labs' IDART (the guys who test the security of national agencies). Although most of the interview is focused on personal computer security, they asked him about L0pht's claim in 1998 if the Internet could still be taken down in 30 minutes given the advances on both the security and threat sides. He said that the risk was still true."

All it needs is a giant Slashdotting

[Anonymous Coward]

Just visit url://internet

Re:Yes

[techprophet]

Or a new strain of rapidly spreading electricity-consuming tiberium.

Or me.

Re:true

[Anonymous Coward]

In 30 minutes?

You're doing it wrong.

Re:nah.

[interkin3tic]

Actually, this is exactly what it's supposed to survive.

Well, I'm reasonably certain my computer can't withstand a nuclear attack, and I don't think most porn stars are radiation-resistant, so it's really trivial to me whether or not there is still an internet after a nuclear war.

Depends on who you ask...

[imajinarie]

According to my parents and people in my office, the Internet is occasionally down for several hours at a time. Fortunately, they have the ability to reboot it when necessary.

Re:Is this news??

[myVarNamesAreTooLon]

All it would take is the right cables to be cut [circleid.com] for the internet to go down. Perhaps with a rented backhoe even.

A single backhoe might have some trouble getting the entire internet in 30 minutes. What's the top speed on those things?

Re:nah.

[ParanoiaBOTS]

OK, then what about by a Cylon invasion? (Which of course, would begin with a nuclear strike.) I doubt that our toaster children would have any trouble with Mccafree or Norton products.

In my experience if we did have a Cylon invasion McAfee and Norton may be our ONLY defense. Upload it and watch as they can no longer function

Re:Internet Backbone DDOS in 2002

[Anonymous Coward]

1) There's a lot more than 13 root servers nowadays. Many of the servers are mirrored using anycast [wikipedia.org]. Wikipedia had a total of 123 in 2006 so it's a safe assumption that there are even more today.

One hundred and twenty three root servers ought to be enough for anyone.

Re:Yes

[Cube Steak]

But I have level 80, purple gear you insensitive clod!

Prevent Over Logging

[teko_teko]

Today we take the Internet for granted, but it could go down any time from over logging. We have to prevent this by using the Internet when truly necessary, and to only view Internet porn twice a day... max.

Re:Yes

[Chris Burke]

By a nuclear war for example.

Why go to such extremes?

root@internet# shutdown -h +30 "Teh Intarwebs are going down!"

Re:nah.

[rcamans]

The stars may not survive, but their videos could in a datastore underground. And your computer could survive in a bomb shelter. Underground. You know, where you live. In your mama's basement.
Heh heh

I am ready for the DNS takedown!

[belloc1]

I have all my most important sites IP addresses written on Post It notes all over my wall.

Bring it!

Re:Yes

[dimko]

Or by a sucessfull Collider Experiment..

Ask my girlfriend . . .

[PolygamousRanchKid]

. . . she accuses me of "turning off" or "breaking the Internet" at least once a day.

That's the power that you get with 57 levels of Slashdot Achievements. A big switch labeled "Internet On/Off."

Re:NAH

[truthsearch]

I think if you were to hand the DoD a purchase order for a pallet load of marshmallow peeps, they'd only be to happy to certify their nuclear/chem/bio survivability and tactical necessity.

That would be a mistake. They should only certify Twinkies.

If Family Guy has taught me anything, it's that everyone should go to the nearest Twinkie factory in the event of a nuclear holocaust.

Re:nah.

[freyyr890]

OK, then what about by a Cylon invasion? (Which of course, would begin with a nuclear strike.) I doubt that our toaster children would have any trouble with Mccafree or Norton products.

In my experience if we did have a Cylon invasion McAfee and Norton may be our ONLY defense. Upload it and watch as they can no longer function

You're horrible. Not even the Cylons deserve Norton and McAfee.

Re:All it needs is a giant Slashdotting

[Chris Mattern]

Firefox tells me it doesn't understand URLs. I'd better just stick to HTTPs.

Re:NAH

[BarryJacobsen]

If Family Guy has taught me anything, it's that everyone should go to the nearest Twinkie factory in the event of a nuclear holocaust.

If Family Guy has taught you anything, then may god have mercy on us all.

Re:true

[mollymoo]

I think your're confusing your childhood with a "yo momma" joke.

Re:NAH

[Verdatum]

I always thought...that dogs...laid eggs!...and I learned something!

Typing google into google will break the internet.

[Anonymous Coward]

Here's the proof:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wrQUWUfmR_I

Re:Yes

[rpmayhem]

root@internet# shutdown -c "I'm still reading slashdot you insensitive clod!"

Re:nah.

[peragrin]

I'm saving my copy of windows ME just for the cylon revolt.

Re:Yes

[N3Roaster]

If it's lower-case i internet as in your post, then yes, two or more connected networks make an internet.

Re:I have a raid!

[DrgnDancer]

Again.

Re:All it needs is a giant Slashdotting

[ozbird]

That's because Firefox saves thar Interwebs. IE would probably give you an animated "It looks like you're trying to take down the Internet" helper.

Re:NAH

[Verdatum]

"Well, let's say this Twinkie represents the normal amount of psychokinetic energy in the New York area. Based on this morning's reading, it would be a Twinkie thirty-five feet long, weighing approximately six hundred pounds."

"That's a big Twinkie."

breaking the internet

[hldn]

i have it on good authority, that if you type google into google, you can actually break the internet.

The threat is real - fight the power

[Torodung]

All it would take is to lengthen Twitter messages to 616 characters. That would bring the whole thing down.

The truth is "out there."

--
Toro

Re:NAH

[Anonymous Coward]

That reminds me of the time Ron Perlman taught my economic 101 class while high on meth.