Internet Kill Switch

[UGA14]

This bill is working it's way to the President.

Not sure if you've seen it but it will give the President authority to turn off the Internet basically for 4 months if a state of emergency is declared.

This, to me, screams what Iran did to their own people during the protests after the contested election. How can we act like we are a model of freedom when we act just like countries that are full of tyranny? Basically, if there ever was an uprising here because of growing distrust over our government, our Internet could be shut down limiting our communication.

[HuskerBlitz]

I'm curious if the government can shutdown ham radio as well? I think the citizen's right to communication should trump any 'emergency' that should arise.

[JeffHCross]

I realize this will probably be classified as "giving into fear", but because of the known cyber attacks upon this country, I'm for this idea.

However, I know full well the bill will be an utter disaster. The concept is good, but the execution will probably be absolutely horrible.

h_b, I don't think the idea would be to shut off any other methods of communication ... TV, Radio, Phones, etc. The main purpose of the bill, from what I've read, is to allow for the protection of "vital" parts of the internet while under cyber attack. The design would not be to eliminate communication, though that would be a side effect.

[HuskerBlitz]

To me, it doesn't matter. There are safeguards places like banks and such should use instead, like setting up their own internet system that is more secured.

[JeffHCross]

For a truly sophisticated cyber attack, sometimes the only defense is to pull the plug.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123914805204099085.html

[HuskerBlitz]

But what I'm saying is if they are truly concerned about cyber threats, using the existing internet system is not the way to go. If they set up their own private networking system, the chance of a cyber terrorist getting into the network to cause havoc is diminished quite a bit.

[JeffHCross]

True, this would be a perfect arena for Internet2.

[AustinWolv]

Hey, the Chinese do this too, why not here?

Note sarcasm.

[skipwondah33]

Yeah people would go ape shit if they couldn't twitter about the crisis or go on facebook.

[HuskerBlitz]

Yeah people would go ape shit if they couldn't twitter about the crisis or go on facebook.

There are more practical reasons for this not to happen. The government's claim is that too many banks do business on the internet. But what about the common people? How many people do business via the internet? Pay bills via the internet? There are hundreds of businesses that are strictly internet based and even a kill of a couple of days could cripple those companies. What about the people that pay bills with automatic withdraws? All of those would stop as well.

Nothing good is going to come out of this if it would ever occur.

[skipwondah33]

My answer to that is one should not totally rely on the internet for ALL of their business dealings. And this is coming from a guy in IT.

[HuskerBlitz]

My answer to that is one should not totally rely on the internet for ALL of their business dealings. And this is coming from a guy in IT.

Okay, take Cabela's for example. They have a handful of stores in and around Nebraska. The vast majority of their sales come from internet sales. Again, even a handful of days with no sales from online would cripple that company even though they have retail outlets.

Another issue, how many jobs now require direct deposit of paychecks? I've had several where it was required or I have to pay a fee to get a paper check.

You just can't avoid doing business via the internet any longer in today's world.

[cdj]

My answer to that is one should not totally rely on the internet for ALL of their business dealings. And this is coming from a guy in IT.

I agree with you (& HB) as well. Look at how many people can't go anywhere without cell phones or a day without e-mail or can't even make change at a register without the machine telling them what to do. (Granted, that's not internet but just technology in general.)

The big cyber-attack we will face in the future will be something that cripples credit card servers or something that knocks out the electrical grid to major metropolitan areas of the country (maybe even an EMP). The lack of technology would plunge many into a modern day dark ages and chaos would ensue. We're too attached to technology to survive without now.


As for the law, it's silly. The government (via the FCC) has been clamoring to get their hooks into the internet so bad, they can taste it. I've skimmed some articles who believe this law is setting up the Internet2 you guys mentioned above. The other day Dr. Phil testified in front of Congress about cyber-bullying and what the government should do about it. Give me a break!

[morsdraconis]

All I can say is, the government takes down the internet, then there will be riots in the streets from all the people my age and such. I could live without it, but I'd be extremely pissed about it not being there.

[HuskerBlitz]

I agree, we cannot go back to pre-internet days. Too many things are intertwined now to ever go back.

The government needs to leave the internet alone.

[skipwondah33]

Okay, take Cabela's for example. They have a handful of stores in and around Nebraska. The vast majority of their sales come from internet sales. Again, even a handful of days with no sales from online would cripple that company even though they have retail outlets.

Another issue, how many jobs now require direct deposit of paychecks? I've had several where it was required or I have to pay a fee to get a paper check.

You just can't avoid doing business via the internet any longer in today's world.

All is true but think about how much is stolen as well over the internet. If a cyber attack were to occur how and what else will stop it? What will it affect if it continues? These are all things that could do more harm if left "on" rather then just killing it.

Employers almost certainly will have other means of paying its employees who have direct deposit in the event it cannot be processed. They would have to.

For example our payroll department sends the created ACH file to the bank on the last day to process payroll for those who have direct deposit. If this cannot be sent via their website then I copy the file onto a thumb drive and it is taken to the bank as a way of alternative means. We have had internet issues quite a bit with our local ISP so a backup plan was a must. I understand not all businesses can do this but I would assume their upper management would require such a plan.

[morsdraconis]

All is true but think about how much is stolen as well over the internet. If a cyber attack were to occur how and what else will stop it? What will it affect if it continues? These are all things that could do more harm if left "on" rather then just killing it.

Employers almost certainly will have other means of paying its employees who have direct deposit in the event it cannot be processed. They would have to.

For example our payroll department sends the created ACH file to the bank on the last day to process payroll for those who have direct deposit. If this cannot be sent via their website then I copy the file onto a thumb drive and it is taken to the bank as a way of alternative means. We have had internet issues quite a bit with our local ISP so a backup plan was a must. I understand not all businesses can do this but I would assume their upper management would require such a plan.

But if the internet is down, then the whole infrastructure that most businesses now operate on would be down as well.

I can't tell you how popular VoIP (voice over IP) and VIDoIP (video over IP) software is for companies that operate on a world scale. That type of infrastructure for those companies is gone, not to mention the amount of operations done via the internet as well for these businesses.

As technology has progressed, so has the usage of the internet with that technology. The foothold of world economics is based on the internet now fellas. The scope of the US or all of the internet being taken down at once is something that no government is willing handle themselves.

There are so many different safety precautions put into place by various companies, I find it hard that any hacker would be able to create something that would be unstoppable enough to take everything down. Believe me when I say anyone good enough to do that is being paid by these companies to prevent just that.

[JeffHCross]

All I can say is, the government takes down the internet, then there will be riots in the streets from all the people my age and such.

Counter-point ... if one of our enemies was able to take down our energy grid, communications infrastructure, or other essential public service via the Internet, and the choice was either pull the plug on the Internet or let it keep happening, which would you vote for?

[morsdraconis]

Counter-point ... if one of our enemies was able to take down our energy grid, communications infrastructure, or other essential public service via the Internet, and the choice was either pull the plug on the Internet or let it keep happening, which would you vote for?

Here's the issue. How are they taking something down via the internet? As fun as Live Free Or Die Hard was, it's complete bullshit that anything like that could ever happen. The security in place is beyond anything even most hackers can imagine, much less crack. Hell, even Live Free Or Die Hard verified that taking any utility down requires personal access to the servers at the building.

I just think all this crap about internet hackers and stuff is just silly. As I said before, anyone even remotely talented enough to do that to the US, will be working for them first.

[JeffHCross]

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123914805204099085.html

http://www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/07/08/g...ing/index.html

http://www.defensenews.com/story.php?i=4653942