The basic idea is that in the event of an internet catastrophe, the domain name system security (DNSSEC) could be damaged or compromised and we’d be left without a way to verify if a URL is pointing to the correct website. That’s when the holders of these smart cards would be called into action:
A minimum of five of the seven keyholders – one each from Britain, the U.S., Burkina Faso, Trinidad and Tobago, Canada, China, and the Czech Republic – would have to converge at a U.S. base with their keys to restart the system and connect everything once again.
A minimum of five people is needed because each of the smart cards contains only a fraction of the recovery key necessary to set things right again. This means that no single person will hold all the power to resetting our little cyber world. [BBC via PopSci]
Peter Santone
July 28, 2010 at 10:23 AM
Why do I have the captain planet theme song in my head all of a sudden? :P
Report PermalinkDavid
July 28, 2010 at 11:51 AM
Lord of the rings anybody? 7 rings for the dwarfs in their halls of stone
Report PermalinkBrent Harrison
July 28, 2010 at 10:36 AM
The power is yours!
Report PermalinkFrank
July 28, 2010 at 10:49 AM
You mean “The Internet”
Fun facts about the internet!
1. The internet is surprisingly small!
2. The internet is wireless!
3. The internet is very light! (of course the internet doesn’t weigh anything!)
4 The internet lives at the top of Big Ben! (where it gets the best reception)
5. Before being borrowed, it MUST be demagnetised! Preferably by a Grand Master of The Internet such as Stephen Hawking.
May be you need someone from overseas to restart The Internet in US but we can do it very easily by restarting our DNS server ;-)
Report PermalinkJames-Mac
July 28, 2010 at 1:35 PM
I thought the internet was kept in a small box?
Report PermalinkMaurice Moss
October 28, 2010 at 2:04 PM
With a small flashing LED on the top…
Report PermalinkPaul B
July 28, 2010 at 10:58 AM
Sounds fundamentally flawed. They all need to be located, converge on US soil and at a specific location… 911 – no flights in or out of the USA. Even if a military flight was used it’s still 24 hours of chaos at least. Here’s hoping they keep non net linked tabs on these 7, 24/7
Report PermalinkT
July 28, 2010 at 12:02 PM
So in the event of a world-wide catastrophic internet collapse, you’re annoyed at 24 hours downtime? I’m pretty sure you are every IT manager I’ve ever worked for.
Report PermalinkPaul B
July 28, 2010 at 3:35 PM
Wrong assumption on your part.
It would be causing chaos for 24 hours given time to reboot the system, not 24 hours downtime.
24 hours to reboot the system is 24 hours for a virus to spread, or chaos to occur.
If a virus hit your server, would you sit and wait for 24 hours before trying to fix it? Or would you sit, with it connected to your network and wait patiently for 24 hours for someone to come all the time watching it infect your network?
It takes time to fix things, but it shouldn’t take 24 hours for someone to start trying to fix if the problem is truly catastrophic.
Report PermalinkYour Mate Alex
July 28, 2010 at 12:00 PM
Britain gets “PA”
the U.S. gets “AS”
Burkina Faso gets “SS”
Trinidad and Tobago get “SW”
Canada gets “WO”
China gets “OR”
and the Czech Republic gets “RD”
but sssshhhh you didn’t hear it from me
Report PermalinkMarshall Hughes
July 28, 2010 at 4:02 PM
Sorry, WTF with Burkina Faso?
Is this small African nation an IT powerhouse?
Report Permalinkdil
July 28, 2010 at 5:13 PM
This sounds very familiar to the card used in the original Metal Gear Solid…
Report PermalinkMatt L
July 28, 2010 at 5:47 PM
Start writing down the IP address of all your favorite porn sites and you’ll be fine for 24hrs
Report PermalinkLuke Bennett
July 28, 2010 at 5:55 PM
I can see Dan Brown writing a book about this…
Report Permalinktsengan
July 28, 2010 at 8:02 PM
I’d show you Da Vinci’s original plan for the Interwebs, but it’s locked up in a Vatican vault that curiously looks like goatse.
Report PermalinkFud
August 4, 2010 at 12:15 PM
That vault is actually in Western Australia. Called Westnet – http://www.westnet.com.au/default.aspx
Report PermalinkFoobar Jenkins
July 29, 2010 at 5:30 AM
brb, grabbing bind sources and manuals :)
Report PermalinkFinger man
July 29, 2010 at 11:14 PM
One war tactic is to cut off the supply lines. Do you use the internet to make your living? I hope they do not declare war on the world in the name of some patriot act type new law….for your safety? yea, sure thing…more like “Act of War”
Report PermalinkBeau Dacious
August 1, 2010 at 10:27 AM
The keys aren’t all in American hands, though.
Report PermalinkGG
August 4, 2010 at 2:09 AM
So if someone wanted to permanently break the trust web, they’d just need to break it once, wait for 5 people to get together in the same place, and then nuke that place?
Report Permalink