Can I pick your brain?

[MsGuy]

Two questions for deej and Daddy:

 

1) Is it at all likely that China hijacked most of North America's Internet traffic for 18 minutes by accident? http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6AI4HJ20101119?loomia_ow=t0:s0:a49:g43:r1:c0.141395:b39694048:z0

 

2) Is it technically feasible to build some kind of international firewall to prevent them from disrupting the internet during a period of severe international tension? Say an attack on Taiwan?

 

Sorry to bother you guys, but in my tiny Southern hometown there's nobody to ask. I realize you aren't experts on this kind of things, but your best guess is bound to be better than mine.

[Guest Merlin]

I think there is no chance that the hacking was accidental. It is part and parcel with the activities of the Chinese military which seems to regard us as an enemy.

Our ability to construct a firewall is above my technical know how, but the good news is that the activities of the Chinese and others alerts our military to the constant danger and forces them to work for a remedy.

[jgoo]

I think there is no chance that the hacking was accidental. It is part and parcel with the activities of the Chinese military which seems to regard us as an enemy.

Our ability to construct a firewall is above my technical know how, but the good news is that the activities of the Chinese and others alerts our military to the constant danger and forces them to work for a remedy.

 

I think most country's military consider every other country's military as a potential threat (enemy), at least I would think so if they are doing their job correctly. Todays friends may be tomorrows enemy so better to be prudent. I have every confidence that the US has many things in place and continues to work on new things regarding cyber warefare, both offensively and defensively.

[+ deej]

1) Is it at all likely that China hijacked most of North America's Internet traffic for 18 minutes by accident? http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6AI4HJ20101119?loomia_ow=t0:s0:a49:g43:r1:c0.141395:b39694048:z0

 

Shit happens. All it takes is a typo. On the other hand, "What does this button do?" seems more likely. The whole thing basically runs on the honor system.

 

2) Is it technically feasible to build some kind of international firewall to prevent them from disrupting the internet during a period of severe international tension? Say an attack on Taiwan?

 

The entire system (as originally designed by the Department of Defense) is intended to be a self-healing ooze that allows communications to reach their destination even if normal traffic routes are unavailable. It was designed to survive having entire regions disabled by thermonuclear attack. If one route is blocked, traffic finds another.

 

Note that traffic was not blocked at all. Only the routing was altered.

 

If it was easy to control, SPAM would have died a long time ago.