(1VB)compforce
03-14-2014, 17:52
http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/technology/us-to-relinquish-remaining-control-over-the-internet/2014/03/14/0c7472d0-abb5-11e3-adbc-888c8010c799_print.html
U.S. officials announced plans Friday to relinquish federal government control over the administration of the Internet, a move likely to please international critics but alarm some business leaders and others who rely on smooth functioning of the Web.
While I understand the global community's desire for the US to release control, a BIG part of the web is the control of the root DNS servers, as assigned by ICANN, which tell computers how to get everywhere on the web. Addition of other root DNS servers in other countries provides would be attackers with points that may be of suspect security.
Many people may believe that this is not a big deal, but the internet has been used in recent years to take over critical communication functions. For example, most telephone systems are actually VOIP (voice over internet protocol) now with their signal transferred over the internet. The Federal Reserve allows banks to post their transactions using the internet system to move money between banks. The tendrils of the internet are everywhere in our economy and national infrastructure. Even many functions of our power grid are performed across the internet.
I can't even begin to go over all the ramifications of this move. Why in the world would we give up control of a system that effectively provides our day to day communications between everyone from individuals through the government and the entire private sector? This is flat stupidity.
U.S. officials announced plans Friday to relinquish federal government control over the administration of the Internet, a move likely to please international critics but alarm some business leaders and others who rely on smooth functioning of the Web.
While I understand the global community's desire for the US to release control, a BIG part of the web is the control of the root DNS servers, as assigned by ICANN, which tell computers how to get everywhere on the web. Addition of other root DNS servers in other countries provides would be attackers with points that may be of suspect security.
Many people may believe that this is not a big deal, but the internet has been used in recent years to take over critical communication functions. For example, most telephone systems are actually VOIP (voice over internet protocol) now with their signal transferred over the internet. The Federal Reserve allows banks to post their transactions using the internet system to move money between banks. The tendrils of the internet are everywhere in our economy and national infrastructure. Even many functions of our power grid are performed across the internet.
I can't even begin to go over all the ramifications of this move. Why in the world would we give up control of a system that effectively provides our day to day communications between everyone from individuals through the government and the entire private sector? This is flat stupidity.