U.S. Government Proposes "Internet Kill Switch"
- Thread starter Andy Chalk
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Let's say a terrorist groups discovers a major vulnerability in a common website template, and starts stealing information from banks, and government records en masse (this seems like an impossible scenario, but as the internet continues to exist and expand, it's not unreasonable to believe that this may happen at some point down the line), this kill switch could be deployed NOT to FIND the attackers, but to stop them from stealing this information by pulling it off the web, at this point the security hole that allowed the attack could be isolated and repaired, at which point these sites could return to the web.UnusualStranger said:
The reason I'm alright with this is because it can't be used in secret and abused like other measures such as wiretaps, if this kill switch was ever used, nearly every person in America would instantly know what happened when they lost connectivity, and they would demand answers, at that point the people in the government behind flipping the switch would have to provide sound proof that it was necessary, or they would surely be at the end of a major investigation.
In short, there is no potential for abuse barring complete corruption of all of the major courts and branches of the United States government, and I'm not enough of a conspiracy theorist to believe the entire government in all of it's checks and balances could be completely corrupted toward a single end all at the same time. If that ever did happen, it would be revolution time, and at that point there would be far graver concerns than loss of internet access.
Wait... so not only do we give the US president power to end the world with the touch of a button and a few coordinates, he can end the virtual world too... Bastards.
This could be used to silence regions. Imagine if there was a mass murder of tons of people by the government and no one could get even a tweet out to tell the world of hte atrocity? And yes, I do think this'll freak some of the whack jobs in the world out. Conspiracy theorists will have a field day with this.
This could be used to silence regions. Imagine if there was a mass murder of tons of people by the government and no one could get even a tweet out to tell the world of hte atrocity? And yes, I do think this'll freak some of the whack jobs in the world out. Conspiracy theorists will have a field day with this.
This has got to be one of the most undemocratic law changes to exist in this day and age. The Internet belongs to all of us, not just a select few. Why don't politicians and corporate companies understand what the internet is, or what it stands for? A free public forum of ideas and knowledge. The internet is owned by everyone and no one.
Yeah...I wish I could live in your world. Only a few people need to be corrupt. Not everyone. The guy who flips the switch because he doesn't like whats going on in the internet, the guy who is going to "fix" the problem, and then the guy whose going to say "oh yeah, we stopped those terrorists" and make up some bullshit.danpascooch said:
Absolute power is not looked upon very kindly.
Such a scenario as you proposed is as likely as aliens hacking into the network to steal information.danpascooch said:
Simply finding a way to hack a particular security measure grants you access only to a particular area. You cannot access banks, government, and everything at once. Security simply does not work that way.
However, the problem with your scenario is that no terrorist organization is going to want to hack for information. The biggest threat this would be likely focused on is another nation. Terrorists stealing government information is worthless. Random Terrorist 1 simply would not have the resources to make use of things they could possibly get from the government information system
Also, we come back to a point I made earlier. How can you fix the error if you simply shut down the net? The reason there was an exploit in the first place is because we didn't know about it. By simply shutting down the net, how will we know what to fix?
Finally, a kill switch is far too overreaching to me. It sounds as if rather than try to set up a system of blocks in the internet, they would rather just shut everything off. Thats like taking a nuke to a problem when perhaps all you need is one missile.
if it was used strictly for this I wouldn't hav ea problem. But no, you can't rely on the government to use ultimate power wisely. God. Damn. Them.NinjaTigerXIII said:
I think the very reaction of the general public in this forum is proof of how people will react in general should this be passed and actually acted upon. People will be up in arms, rioting, it'd be mass hysteria. As said chaos escalated (or to prevent it entirely) they would impose curfews and other such regulations and before you know it, we're living The Communist Lifestyle or something similar (pardon me for using incorrect terms occasionally).
While I can agree with there needing to be a preventative or at the very least some sort of counter-measure if there actually WERE some sort of internet-based threat to America or even the world at large, I don't think something like this is the right idea. I mean the chaotic result I described above notwithstanding, it would likely leave the country in economical meltdown and could possibly take other countries with it. As someone else said this could be the very reaction someone attacking over the internet might be after. Because once the defences are down there would be nothing stopping the attacking country from using their "antiquated technology" (since China is supposedly a less developed nation) and catching us with our cyber-pants down. Sorry couldn't resist that little joke.
I do agree that it feels America's government is trying hard to be the World Police, but this has been the state of affairs here in America for a long time now. Honestly, as someone else mentioned, we don't know for a fact that the U.S. government doesn't ALREADY have something like this. Either in development or protected somewhere within the confines of bureaucracy, away from the ever prying eyes of the public, foreign powers, and 4chan. I gotta say that the fact China even HAS a cyber-division (pun unintended that time) makes me wonder why America doesn't. Then I remember things like the Stealth Bomber and such which were being used years before we ever got word of their existence and I thought back to that old saying of... hmmm how does it go?
"Sometimes the best way to hide something is to leave it out in the open."
And to be fair, there's nothing anyone can actually say or do to truly disprove what I just said. Hell I remember some years back they talked about working working with anti-gravity technology, and then I remember seeing footage of a guy who build just such a device (had to tie it down to keep it from getting away) on a small scale in his garage. So yeah, who knows what the American Government already has in play. I don't (not to the full extent) and I doubt any of you guys do either. Those that claim they do would have to back it up with hard decisive proof, and I don't mean links to websites and theories of scientific or academic origin.
While I can agree with there needing to be a preventative or at the very least some sort of counter-measure if there actually WERE some sort of internet-based threat to America or even the world at large, I don't think something like this is the right idea. I mean the chaotic result I described above notwithstanding, it would likely leave the country in economical meltdown and could possibly take other countries with it. As someone else said this could be the very reaction someone attacking over the internet might be after. Because once the defences are down there would be nothing stopping the attacking country from using their "antiquated technology" (since China is supposedly a less developed nation) and catching us with our cyber-pants down. Sorry couldn't resist that little joke.
I do agree that it feels America's government is trying hard to be the World Police, but this has been the state of affairs here in America for a long time now. Honestly, as someone else mentioned, we don't know for a fact that the U.S. government doesn't ALREADY have something like this. Either in development or protected somewhere within the confines of bureaucracy, away from the ever prying eyes of the public, foreign powers, and 4chan. I gotta say that the fact China even HAS a cyber-division (pun unintended that time) makes me wonder why America doesn't. Then I remember things like the Stealth Bomber and such which were being used years before we ever got word of their existence and I thought back to that old saying of... hmmm how does it go?
"Sometimes the best way to hide something is to leave it out in the open."
And to be fair, there's nothing anyone can actually say or do to truly disprove what I just said. Hell I remember some years back they talked about working working with anti-gravity technology, and then I remember seeing footage of a guy who build just such a device (had to tie it down to keep it from getting away) on a small scale in his garage. So yeah, who knows what the American Government already has in play. I don't (not to the full extent) and I doubt any of you guys do either. Those that claim they do would have to back it up with hard decisive proof, and I don't mean links to websites and theories of scientific or academic origin.
, until our governments get the idea.... oh crap.
Didn't the US invent it? If any country it should be theirs.spookydom said:
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Why would that ever be used? Will terrorist hi-jack it or something?
Huh, in my opinion that sounds..... really, really cool. I mean, I agree that it's far too much power to put into the hands of a small group of people, but it would be a last resort measure. A freaking awesome last resort measure - the idea of just pushing a button and shutting down the whole internet sounds so deliciously evil... it's like something a James Bond villain would do.
"cyber-9/11?" How exactly does that work? You can'tkill people with the internet. Not yet anyways. Someone needs to give all the guys over 40 in Washington the "Not really a series of tubes" talk.
Oh well, another reason to move to Canada. The TF2 server I usually play on is located there anyways, and so far they've not had problems with the Mounties busting in and letting their horses poop all over the computers.
I can't wait for someone to push that button, if the internet can kill people, it's going to eat that guy first. And put it up on YouTube, and give itself a million thumbs up, and then post it to the Senator's Facebook page, which will then eat him too. Remember kids, the internet can't think yet, but it's still dangerous and you are still delicious. It is an amoeba and you are whatever it is that amoebas eat. It doesn't think about why it's eating you, it just thinks of the delicious.
Oh well, another reason to move to Canada. The TF2 server I usually play on is located there anyways, and so far they've not had problems with the Mounties busting in and letting their horses poop all over the computers.
I can't wait for someone to push that button, if the internet can kill people, it's going to eat that guy first. And put it up on YouTube, and give itself a million thumbs up, and then post it to the Senator's Facebook page, which will then eat him too. Remember kids, the internet can't think yet, but it's still dangerous and you are still delicious. It is an amoeba and you are whatever it is that amoebas eat. It doesn't think about why it's eating you, it just thinks of the delicious.