Well that’s all decided then. The internet is broken and we need to start over.
Last year, the level and ferocity of cyber-attacks on the internet reached such a horrendous level that some are now thinking the unthinkable: to let the internet wither on the vine and start up a new more robust one instead.
On being asked if we should start again, many – maybe most – immediately argue that the internet is such an integral part of our social and economic fabric that even considering a change in its fundamental structure is inconceivable and rather frivolous.
I was one of those. However, recently the evidence suggests that our efforts to secure the internet are becoming less and less effective, and so the idea of a radical alternative suddenly starts to look less laughable.
What makes you so sure about that then, Mr BBC Mouthpiece?
One example of struggling security comes from Neira Jones, head of payment security at Barclaycard. She told me that in the UK alone, identity fraud costs more than £2.7bn every year and affects over 1.8 million people. We also increasingly have other forms of cyber-attacks from political activists (so called ‘hacktivists’), and cyber-espionage and warfare, where the internet has become another stage for global conflict between nations.
Good grief!
So what’s to be done?
We need to understand the root of the problem. In essence, the internet was never intended to be a secure network. The concept was developed by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (Darpa) as a means of allowing a distributed computer system to survive a nuclear attack on the US. Those who designed the Internet Protocol (IP) did not expect that someone might try to intercept or manipulate information sent across it.
So … it’s just all these bad guys that intercept and manipulate information, hacking into personal details and such like. The governments of the western world and their hush-hush agencies aren’t doing any of that stuff then.
Phew. Thank goodness for that.
Anything else I need to know?
Stop and ask yourself this, if it is ‘secure’, why are there so many successful attacks? It is unreasonable to expect users in general to understand complex technologies to the degree necessary to ensure they operate securely over the internet.
It’s analogous to a house. By default a house should be built to allow it to be occupied safely. If you chose to start knocking down walls then it is your fault if the house collapses. But if the foundations of any structure are unsound, no matter how strong or unmodified the building on top, there is always a significant risk of safety being undermined through no fault of yours.
We can have areas of the internet that are governed by a global body and run on technologies which are inherently secure, and we can have areas which are known to be uncontrolled.
They can coexist using the same physical networks, personal computers and user interface to access both but they would be clearly segregated such that a user would have to make a clear choice to leave the default safe zone and enter what has been described as “the seediest place on the planet”.
Oh … I see … so, parents will no longer need to take responsibility for what their children will see on the internet and adults, the world over, will no longer need to take responsibility for what they get up to on the internet … because the Government will do it all for them. Monitoring and guiding us all through the dangers of that horrid internet thingy.
Wow!
What an excellent idea!
Phew. For a moment there, I thought that the Governments of the western world were trying to scare us into thinking the internet is broken just so that they could build a new one that only THEY could fully control. And that THIS was the beginning of the end.
Silly me.
.
The Internet Is Broken! > http://t.co/O5Io3YAb < Good grief! So how do we fix it? #YeahRight
The Internet Is Broken! > http://t.co/O5Io3YAb < Good grief! So how do we fix it? #YeahRight
Not that old chestnut again. The internet was NOT developed to survive a nuclear attack, neither was Arpanet. The author doesn’t know what he’s talking about, his argument is based on hearsay and is invalid.
The internet is fine. It’s governments that are broken.
The Internet is broken – Time for a new Internet http://t.co/1wfCeKYG via @addthis #ACTA #Censorship #BBC #NannyState #Dictatorships
“They can coexist using the same physical networks, personal computers and user interface to access both but they would be clearly segregated such that a user would have to make a clear choice to leave the default safe zone and enter what has been described as “the seediest place on the planet”.”
I call bullshit on this one. The ONLY way you can keep a network safe from outside interference is not to connect it to everything else. And that means NO sharing of equipment, cables, buildings, and anything else which can be accessed by contractors or non security vetted staff. Security will always be compromised in the end. It’s not a matter of “If”, but “When”…
It all makes perfect sense to me. The government and the BBC are such nice chappies. They only have my best interests at heart.
Some mischievous people have suggested that the internet was an invention to keep people like me glued to a screen for hours on end to be slowly brainwashed.
The idea was that if enough people (who might cause trouble) were enticed into spending their lives in front of a screen thinking they were changing the World instead of actually doing something then the need for forceful restraint would be greatly reduced.
This can’t be true because just today I’ve written several World changing comments to newspapers and blogs. I must have achieved something. Didn’t I?
Oh no! The Internet isn't safe! Fear not … the #BBC is here to save us all >> http://t.co/O5Io3YAb
Oh no! The Internet isn't safe! Fear not … the #BBC is here to save us all >> http://t.co/O5Io3YAb
“The internet is broken and we need to start over” …
For me, the first & perhaps most important step is for the people of this country to relearn how to speak their own lauguage ..
Instead of making inane statements which sound as if they were uttered by a Septic mong from Bumfuck, Arizona !
Apols .. should of course read “language” .. ;)
Answers simple, just hang every hacker.
Arpanet (now the Internet) was originally developed so that secure (ie highly encrypted) messages could be sent between military computers over a variety of cable routes, just in case some of these cables were hit by enemy nukes.
The fact that military clowns now sometimes fail to highly encrypt these messages is a reflection on them, not the hackers. But I don’t really think the beeb is concerned about the hacking of military information. More likely it’s upset about hacked global warming lies.
I know in the early to mid fifties this was extended to Universities as the Military though contact at a higher level between Academics and Colonels would be a good thing for the army.
I was a latecomer to Internet Email and didn’t get involved until the mid eighties although I used Gopher.
Because of the 20 odd lines of gobblygook at the beginning of each message, a lot of us thought this would never catch on :-)
For a computer security expert, Prof Alan Woodward doesn’t seem that clued up on how the Internet works as microdave points out.
One thing that would stop a lot of identify fraud would be for banks to implement proper security rather than simple questions like “mother’s maiden name” which can easily be found out.
Yeah, the internet’s so badly fucked up it needs fixing. But the BBC is just fine as it is.
Fortunately, we have a highly motivated and dynamic population of script kiddies and hackers who won’t stand for any government meddling. It’s a war governments can’t win. It’s been clear for many years now that they can’t keep up. :-D
“…so, parents will no longer need to take responsibility for what their children will see on the internet and adults, the world over, will no longer need to take responsibility for what they get up to on the internet…”
You seem to be under the illusion that they take responsibility now. Newsflash – they don’t! They already blame the Government, which is why this kind of crazy crap ends up getting approval.
“In essence, the internet was never intended to be a secure network. The concept was developed by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (Darpa) as a means of allowing a distributed computer system to survive a nuclear attack on the US. Those who designed the Internet Protocol (IP) did not expect that someone might try to intercept or manipulate information sent across it.”
Oh. Really? Does he mean that the integrity of any information database is of no interest to the military? F’me; I thought it was all they cared about.
A more accurate drawback for the likes of those who wish to reinvent the wheel is that the internet as we know it was designed to be free…
Chip chip, chip away. That’s the method I was taught to change my life. 44 now and I’ve finished chipping. Chipped for thirty years. It soon passed. A whole new life chipped away from a solid piece of humanity. Given this story/bullshit is just another chip at the wall of freedom, are we not eventually going to end up without a wall? No barriers, not even curtains to shield our conversations from the prying goofs who walk among us. I started surfing in the early 90s whilst on a return to education course. We began by surfing for information relating to our courses. There was hardly any chat or social networking. Discussions , in the main, happened via e-mail.
However, the past decade and a half has been and continues to be the most influential of my life. My use of the net has provided me with the best education there is on offer. 12months in college, 3 years at uni and four years of being an educated member of staff have all held me back. My ability to screen out the MSM bullshit that’s creeping all over the net helps. But I only have that skill because I spent so much time watching and reading the shit. It stagnates the thinking in us. It is a weapon, and a very powerful one at that. This interweb thingy has become a defensive mechanism to those of us who don’t go baa. They’re trying to kill it. More valuable than any written document or paper, more shared than corn or wheat, much more enjoyed than the brain washing msm handouts and probably used more times than the amount of stars, this internet has become ours. I’m glad and honoured to be part of the www clan. Our followers in time can only benefit from our foundation laying.
No need for big words on here. No need to stand and listen in uniforms on here. No need to pay attention. No need to have specific time breaks. No need for any authoritarianismicsologysticfied supervisionaryguardlikecunts neither. Suits me sir
Great post.
The internet is the revolution. A sphere of knowledge and influence that operates outside the straight-jacket of normal thinking and acceptance. It is discovery, it is revelation, and the best thing is that it is littered with kindred spirits.
Yes, it’s just a pity that alongside the kindred spirits you also get trolls. I wonder if they’re sponsored by MSM ;)