Massive internet failure in the US, is that a national security threat?

@Northwest I would agree with this serious assessment. This could be only the start!

@Pinkrainbowkisses: Is there a website if brought down would make it a national security threat for you?

@Pfuzylogic: [c=#BF0080]I don't know.. that's why I was asking..[/c]

@pinkrainbowkisses: It is expanding with this being a third wave from the morning. A DDOS is flooding these sites with requests; they also call it nuking but that could also be a cover for other activity!

exactly.. it's a demonstration, an example of what can be done

@DesiredNightmare Denial of service is a flooding of TCP/IP packets or nuking. This could be a first of many.

@Pfuzylogic: there are different levels to the internet. The higher levels have ways to deal with such an attack on a nationwide scale. Companies can also impliment ddos defenses. It is interesting to see how they're growing though. They're over 600 gbps now.

@Auberon89: it's not only about the economy (although, that could be devastating as well -- this would be the equivalent of banks shutting down), it's about healthcare: just about every medical instrument, is "connected", Nuclear power stations, trains, airplanes and automobiles, etc.

A DDOS attack, could be the precursor to something else.

I agree

@Northwest: I agree that DDOS is a precursor!

@SBelle: I am think that anything that has an unknown source can be frightening. DDOS attacks are very low technology. I could nuke a site with enough bandwidth. Is interfering with the Internet economy but I suspect that there is something more than just these DDiOS attacks

@SBelle: they're messing with Netflix. What will I do tonight? :-) it's war!

@Northwest: I know.. lol

Wasn't that because [i]they[/i] were hacking into our network ? Like Trump suggested they do, while "joking" (he's [i]such[/i] a jokester) ?

@bijouxbroussard: I think so, but announcing it to the world was just plain stupid..

@bijouxbroussard: This is the main news story at CNN. They say it is a third wave since the morning.

@Northwest: Thanks for the insight. I actually learned quite a bit by your response. I am sure Internet security is going to get another revisit by everyone. I am not sure that DDOS attacked can be stopped yet.

@Pfuzylogic: Not all DDOS attacks can be stopped, and new threats constantly surface. I spent most of my career, designing/implementing the protocols, but I "retired" 15 years ago.

I am not saying that the Russians are behind this, but it would not surprise me if they were. Putin as about childish and temperamental as Trump, so I don't think we should have let on, a few days ago, that 1) we're on to him, and 2) we can counter attach with ease.

Trump thinks we're stupid, and we're neglecting our military, because the Russians are building new nukes and we're not. Is he too stupid/ill informed, to realize that we already have enough nukes and delivery mechanisms, to destroy the planet, hundreds of times over, do it doesn't really matter if the Russians develop more nukes. All it takes is a SINGLE fusion-type device to be launched (yes, a single one), for the game to be over.

No one, is going to make that move.

In the meanwhile, I think that the next war between the superpowers, is going to be fought at the cyber level. What's going on today, may be a test.

In fact, the Chinese, a few years ago, conducted a test. They routed more than 2/3 of the Internet capacity, through their own infrastructure, using massive Internet routers, built by Huwaei, using designs stolen from Cisco and Juniper. Other than the NSA, no one noticed.

That was only a test.

This is one of the reasons, I oppose Trump. If he gets elected, he will divert our resources into the wrong direction, just to satisfy his supporters need for jobs. I don't simply support Hillary, because she's the anti-Trump. The programs started under the Obama administration, will be continued by Hillary. Instead of sending coal workers, back into the mines, for a low death, the plan is to start training, for the jobs the nation will be needing, in the cyberspace, and other technology areas.

It would be like Hughes advocating a focus on the horse saddle industry, and calling Wilson a job killer, because he's advocating re-training for the auto industry.

@Northwest: I am in total agreement with you and it does not surprise me of the theft that China has done. As far as technical ability; I think that Obama and Clinton "get it" much more than Trump. I do appreciate your extensive metaphor and agree with it.

Whos Assange of Wikileaks?

@Firechidist: Wilileaks is trying to disrupt the election in the US in favor of Trump unsuccessfully. The media is pretty much ignoring it and sticking with the 11 Donald sexual assault accusations.

@Firechidist: Assange is the leader of Wikileaks.

what kind of site is that?

looked it up, an online movie site

@UltraViolet Thanks for the info. I forgot Netflix too.

@onestarrynight: Like free Netflix

@Northwest: It's been in the news, not from Trumps mouth

@cherokeepatti: They say the attack is growing from this morning with a third wave.

@cherokeepatti: I realize it's been in the news, but I doubt that those promoting gloom and doom, understand what this is about. Specifically, Ted Cruz, who introduced the bill, and now Trump and his supporters, who clearly don't understand what this is about, and are promoting their misunderstanding, and confusing everyone.

ICANN, stands for Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers. It's an International body that coordinates, the how a domain name, on the internet, is reached, based on an Internet Protocol number.

To reach your address, you can provide someone with your longitude and latitude coordinates. Or you can give them an address, composed of a street number, city, state, and country.

The same goes for web sites. They have a set of coordinates, called an IP address (kind of like Longitude and Latitude). How does an email (or a clink on a web link), find it? That information comes from a provider, who gets the name registered through ICANN. So, when I enter similiarworld.com, it's actually resolving to an IP address.

I realize I am over simplifying, but these are the basic mechanics.

ICANN has been operating, as an international body, nearly from day one, under contract to the US Department of Commerce. The US does not gain anything out of this, so the proposal is for the US not to renew the contract, and transfer it over to IANA.

I don't think Ted Cruz or Trump understand this. Fighting the transfer makes no sense.