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Cyber Security: Cutting The Lines
John Stith
Staff Writer
2005-11-17
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Right now, Internet network company Cogent is in world of hurt. They've had their lines cut in two different places, New Orleans and Washington D.C. It's disrupting traffic from Minnesota all the way to the east coast of the U.S. and it could be hours before the problem is rectified. Regarding cyber security, it shows the physical part of the network is as important as the all the other stuff.
 | | Severing The Cogent Line |  |
For those on the SecurityProNews newsletter list, you won't get this until after the problem is fixed. It's the only way you'll get the newsletter since we use Cogent. Cogent is known for being a carrier of long haul email traffic. They're also considered one of the backbone networks of the Internet. Their fiber-optic networks run everywhere.
Something to take note of here is the problem these cuts are obviously creating. They're disrupting business throughout the eastern half of the U.S. and by that token, some parts of the western U.S. So let's take a moment to consider the situation.
It's not been stated how the damage happened really. With all the construction going on in New Orleans, it's understandable how a few lines could get cut. Washington D.C. is a big town, accidents happen. What happens when this isn't an accident? A few strategic snips and this gets ugly. An organized, coordinated attack at the facility in Washington, or perhaps New Orleans or something in New York?
The big issue regarding cyber security right now centered on events happening online. Things like identity fraud, denials of service, phishing scams and viruses are important and remain the focus in the cyber security world. They should. But we can't take our eyes completely off the physical either though. These two cuts created this much business disruption for Internet traffic. What happens when a concerted effort is made to damage the network?
It won't take machines guns, IEDs or jumbo jets. It takes something to dig with and something to cut the cable with, and then you've got yourself a major crisis. This could interfere with banking and financial markets. It could create problems when health information networks. All of the things we rely on the Internet for could be quickly taken away with just a few well placed cuts.
What can we do? That's the tricky part isn't it? Most of the cable is buried in the ground and generally hard to get too. But, crews are digging it up to repair it. How do we protect the cable? What can be done to prevent things like this from happening in the future? Denial of service is much easier when you cut the lines.
As cyber security becomes a more prevalent issue in the coming months and years, this is another part of the equation that can't be forgotten. All computers, networks etc. will continue to have a physical aspect to them for the foreseeable future. As long as they do, physical attacks are a consideration. How to prevent this type of case is the big question.
About the Author:
John is a staff writer for SecurityProNews covering cyber security.
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