Pull up the wrong undersea cable, and the Internet goes dark in Berlin or Dubai. See our animated infographics of how the web works!
Posted 03.13.2009 at 9:14 am
178 Comments
Where is the Web?
As Wi-Fi hotspots proliferate, making wireless connections commonplace, many people have come to regard the Internet as something that’s simply in the air. Ask the average person how it’s carried, and they are likely to mumble something about satellites.
But satellites carry less than 10 percent of all Internet traffic. The Internet is, in fact, inside the more than 500,000 miles of undersea cables like the ones Rennie fixes. It is in the hundreds of Internet hubs around the world, concrete landing points where these cables come ashore and branch back out again through terrestrial networks. It is in the hundreds of thousands of miles of land-based cables that crisscross the continents, bringing the Web to individual businesses and homes. The Internet is actually a vast physical infrastructure, awesome in its complexity--and its vulnerability.
"Most people don’t realize how information moves around the globe," says Paul Kurtz, a former member of the National Security and Homeland Security councils who now advises corporations and governments on critical infrastructure protection with Good Harbor Consulting. "The telecommunications network has morphed into the Internet, and there are vulnerabilities all along the line."
Cyber-attacks like those launched against the republic of Georgia during last summer’s war with Russia will continue to grab headlines, but attacks on the Internet’s physical infrastructure could be even more devastating. "Physical attacks are less likely, but they are more damaging and harder to recover from," says Don Jackson, director of threat intelligence for information-security firm SecureWorks in Atlanta. "We are so much better prepared for virtual attacks that [for terrorists] a physical attack is a very attractive alternative." Given how much of our financial, commercial and social lives have moved online, the repercussions from such an assault—and a resulting widespread failure—would be immense.
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just wanna say great article! I never thought of that problem, that teh internet is such fragile. i even will not think about problem, which would accure if such an undersea cable will break.
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It is truly amazing there are so many "connections" on the ground floor of the ocean, that a single cable missing has little affect.
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This man and his group is very kind, I love them and thank you
Hope the cable is more safe that now and do not easily broke by any condition.
we are the user of internet should be responsible to protect the internet..
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I'm a pro blogger from holland and live 6 months in Malaysia. About 10 days in one months we have no Internet. I think they do it on purpose to checking the data. They alway say that a cable is broken in the sea, i don't believe them no more.
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His whole demeanour scares me to hell!
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Thank you Rennie for trouble so we can enjoy our fast internet from our cosy chairs!
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Good thing that we have this guys to monitor and protect our internet. Thanks to them and for this informative article about how our internet works.
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I think the internet is like a freeway that goes on and on that has no boundaries of full protection IMO.