What happens when digital networks collapse?
Posted April 26, 2013 8:07 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – It is a double-edged sword: the Internet now connects and controls much of our infrastructure, but it also makes it more vulnerable to widespread outages.
Maclean’s calls it “the next big one” — not an earthquake, but a collapse of the digital networks linking more and more critical systems together. While such a failure may sound improbable, security and technology experts say few people realize just how vulnerable society has already become.
As integration becomes more widespread, the magazine is looking at possible malfunctions and cyberattacks on power grids, transportation systems, even nuclear plants.
“Many of us would remember Iran and the Stuxnet computer virus and what happened there in 2010,” says Rosemary Westwood, a writer with Maclean’s.
“We’ve seen a lot of what happens when something goes wrong, we’ve seen a lot of breakdowns in our reliance on technology, everything from Visa payment system outages to flights grounded in the US because of digital problems with reservations systems,” she tells News1130.
The biggest concern for governments is critical infrastructure, such as train and plane networks, water systems, and energy grids, which are becoming more automated.
“That’s why there have been pushes to bring in cyber security measures in the US, backed by President Barack Obama, to try to get a better handle on the risks to critical infrastructure that hackers can pose once we integrate technology even more into everything around us,” explains Westwood.
Global governments are looking at solutions, but are wrestling with balancing security with freedom and privacy.
“It’s definitely a concern and there are a few things that government can do outside of just monitoring cyberspace better. What they are trying to do is better control traffic, and that would require telecommunications companies to get on-board and to implement checkpoints, kind of like what we have along borders already, physically,” says Westwood.
“When information is moving between different locations on the web, someone would be keeping an eye on it more closely and that information would be sent on to the government, essentially creating borders on the web.”
Some would say that leads to a slippery slope.
“Governments, of course, would argue that it is their job, their jurisdiction within their borders, to protect people,” notes Westwood. “If hackers are a big enough concern, it’s a reasonable response for government to try to better control traffic online. But certainly, the privacy concerns are there and that’s why you see debates over cyber-security bills. It’s not straightforward.”
Find more on how the risk of a breakdown could affect our lives in the latest issue of Maclean’s.
