Is The Internet Really Broken?

Predictions

from the help,-it's-fallen-and-it-can't-get-up dept

Last week, we noted new research, suggesting people were “settling down” in how they used the internet, while joking that you shouldn’t worry, the internet isn’t dying. However, it appears some others, with quite a bit of knowledge about how the internet works, aren’t so sure. They believe that the fact that the internet has no built in security measures, combined with the recent growth in attacks means that the limitations of today’s internet infrastructure are clearly showing — and that it’s time to build a new, more secure, internet infrastructure from scratch. Of course, we’ve heard all of this before, with such networking luminaries as Bob Metcalfe promising, almost exactly a decade ago, that if the internet didn’t collapse in 1996, he would literally eat his column (which he later did, indeed, eat). Still, there’s nothing wrong with looking for a better way to do things, but when you start talking about building in security, it raises a lot of questions. While the lack of built-in security online can be seen as a problem, it’s also part of what helped the network be so successful — by leaving out the limitations. Building them in is risky, because you never know what the unintended consequences are, and how they might limit new, unexpected innovations.