Corona Virus Possible Effects On The Internet??

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JD Spydo
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Corona Virus Possible Effects On The Internet??

#1

Post by JD Spydo »

I'll be up front I'm not a computer or high tech genius by any means. I probably know enough to navigate my way around and to operate common computer technology. And maybe my topic might seem laughable to many of you with in depth knowledge. But I've been sitting here wondering if this National Medical Emergency could conceivably take down the internet or affect it's overall operation? With many other businesses already at a stand-still I've just been wondering if they might suspend the internet in the guise of national security?

I would rather ask a dumb question than to not be aware of what might possibly be on the horizon. I would think they would want to keep it up to keep us informed. But I just wonder what some of you high tech savvy people think? Or could the internet be hi-jacked by some of our national enemies or cyber-terrorists?

I can't help but wonder if any of that is possible?
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Re: Corona Virus Possible Effects On The Internet??

#2

Post by Larry_Mott »

It could and probably will, to some extent eat tons of bandwidth with more and more education taking place as online lectures, digital exams and whatnot.
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Re: Corona Virus Possible Effects On The Internet??

#3

Post by JD Spydo »

Larry_Mott wrote:
Wed Mar 18, 2020 2:06 am
It could and probably will, to some extent eat tons of bandwidth with more and more education taking place as online lectures, digital exams and whatnot.
Larry one thing I've wondered is if they would temporarily shut the internet down to control a possible escalated panic scenario? However I think that shutting it down could cause more panic.

I've also wondered about the massive use of bandwidth and what effect it might have. When it comes to the internet I really have no idea what they might implement in an extreme emergency.
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Re: Corona Virus Possible Effects On The Internet??

#4

Post by bearfacedkiller »

The corona virus is not a computer virus. ;)

I think that the issue will be that about 50% of the global population is gonna be sitting around watching Netflix for the next month or more. That will eat up some bandwidth!
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Re: Corona Virus Possible Effects On The Internet??

#5

Post by JD Spydo »

bearfacedkiller wrote:
Wed Mar 18, 2020 6:14 am
The corona virus is not a computer virus. ;)

I think that the issue will be that about 50% of the global population is gonna be sitting around watching Netflix for the next month or more. That will eat up some bandwidth!
First off I know that the Corona Virus is not a computer virus :rolleyes: . If you read my opening post carefully you would see what I'm talking about. I was curious about what types of residual effects that this "virus panic" or pandemic that has our society in an uproar would have on the free operation of the internet as we currently know it.
Being the the virus panic is causing the closing of restaurants, bars and other public businesses I was just wondering if there was a possibility that the government might either suspend or take autocratic control of the world wide web as we know it in it's present format.
If I didn't make myself clear then my apologies.
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Re: Corona Virus Possible Effects On The Internet??

#6

Post by bearfacedkiller »

Joe, my first sentence was a joke. :)

And, I answered the question. I do not think the the govt will turn the internet off. I think usage will be high and we will see if the infrastructure can support it in the next couple of weeks.

We have millions of children learning from home and the internet is how we communicate. It is how we pay bills and schedule appointments and everything else. They cannot shut it down now. We are too dependent on it.
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sal wrote:Knife afi's are pretty far out, steel junky's more so, but "edge junky's" are just nuts. :p
SpyderEdgeForever wrote: Also, do you think a kangaroo would eat a bowl of spagetti with sauce if someone offered it to them?
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Re: Corona Virus Possible Effects On The Internet??

#7

Post by JD Spydo »

bearfacedkiller wrote:
Wed Mar 18, 2020 6:30 am
Joe, my first sentence was a joke. :)

And, I answered the question. I do not think the the govt will turn the internet off. I think usage will be high and we will see if the infrastructure can support it in the next couple of weeks.

We have millions of children learning from home and the internet is how we communicate. It is how we pay bills and schedule appointments and everything else. They cannot shut it down now. We are too dependent on it.
OK I get it :) That wouldn't make sense to shut down the internet the more I think about it. Because they are having all these college students take their courses on line. And I do believe the internet would be one of their last safety valves so to speak to keep society functioning at some level of sanity.

But with all the craziness that is taking place I was just wondering what the possibilities might be if this panic gets worse. But in all fairness this virus panic has done more to cripple our way of life in such a short amount of time than I originally would have imagined.
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Re: Corona Virus Possible Effects On The Internet??

#8

Post by bearfacedkiller »

I don’t think that things will get crazier but I do think this will drag on. My wife is a teacher at the school my son goes to and I don’t think that they are going back this year. Right now they are closed until April 6th but I expect that to be extended.

Same for the restaurant closures. I expect those to be extended too. I hope that many small business owners can make it through this. Just think of all the food waste. As we close almost every restaurant in the country what happens to all the food in all those walk in coolers? We are about to throw away enough food to feed a few starving countries. If the restaurant closure drags on the govt will have to bail folks out or else we are gonna lose a lot of them.
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sal wrote:Knife afi's are pretty far out, steel junky's more so, but "edge junky's" are just nuts. :p
SpyderEdgeForever wrote: Also, do you think a kangaroo would eat a bowl of spagetti with sauce if someone offered it to them?
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Re: Corona Virus Possible Effects On The Internet??

#9

Post by JD Spydo »

bearfacedkiller wrote:
Wed Mar 18, 2020 6:53 am
I don’t think that things will get crazier but I do think this will drag on. My wife is a teacher at the school my son goes to and I don’t think that they are going back this year. Right now they are closed until April 6th but I expect that to be extended.

Same for the restaurant closures. I expect those to be extended too. I hope that many small business owners can make it through this. Just think of all the food waste. As we close almost every restaurant in the country what happens to all the food in all those walk in coolers? We are about to throw away enough food to feed a few starving countries. If the restaurant closure drags on the govt will have to bail folks out or else we are gonna lose a lot of them.
You got some good points. Here where I live small businesses are the life's blood of our local economy and many of these great merchants and service providers are already on the verge of going belly up in many cases. The internet is truly essential to keeping the economy to hang on by a thread in many cases.
They are talking about shutting down most of the schools here in this area too. With the exception of private schools in many cases. They even told us last night that our church will be temporarily shut down until they deem it safe for older people and youngsters or other people that are extremely vulnerable.
I'm 66 years old and I don't remember anything even remotely like this ever happening to our society here in the USA. But I do hope that my apprehension about the internet being effected is baseless.
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Re: Corona Virus Possible Effects On The Internet??

#10

Post by TomAiello »

Maintaining electronic communications is going to be one of the keys to containing it. If the internet shuts down, people will go out looking for entertainment and spread the virus more. Plus, telemedicine reduces the risk of contagion to healthcare workers dramatically.

I can't imagine that the powers that be are unaware of this, which means that maintaining internet service is probably a pretty high priority.
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Re: Corona Virus Possible Effects On The Internet??

#11

Post by Ankerson »

JD Spydo wrote:
Tue Mar 17, 2020 5:44 pm
I'll be up front I'm not a computer or high tech genius by any means. I probably know enough to navigate my way around and to operate common computer technology. And maybe my topic might seem laughable to many of you with in depth knowledge. But I've been sitting here wondering if this National Medical Emergency could conceivably take down the internet or affect it's overall operation? With many other businesses already at a stand-still I've just been wondering if they might suspend the internet in the guise of national security?

I would rather ask a dumb question than to not be aware of what might possibly be on the horizon. I would think they would want to keep it up to keep us informed. But I just wonder what some of you high tech savvy people think? Or could the internet be hi-jacked by some of our national enemies or cyber-terrorists?

I can't help but wonder if any of that is possible?

The internet will survive...

Now it might be possible it could go down in some areas (outages), but they will get repaired.
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Re: Corona Virus Possible Effects On The Internet??

#12

Post by JD Spydo »

Ankerson wrote:
Wed Mar 18, 2020 5:32 pm
JD Spydo wrote:
Tue Mar 17, 2020 5:44 pm
I'll be up front I'm not a computer or high tech genius by any means. I probably know enough to navigate my way around and to operate common computer technology. And maybe my topic might seem laughable to many of you with in depth knowledge. But I've been sitting here wondering if this National Medical Emergency could conceivably take down the internet or affect it's overall operation? With many other businesses already at a stand-still I've just been wondering if they might suspend the internet in the guise of national security?

I would rather ask a dumb question than to not be aware of what might possibly be on the horizon. I would think they would want to keep it up to keep us informed. But I just wonder what some of you high tech savvy people think? Or could the internet be hi-jacked by some of our national enemies or cyber-terrorists?

I can't help but wonder if any of that is possible?

The internet will survive...

Now it might be possible it could go down in some areas (outages), but they will get repaired.
Yeah I think you're spot on Ankerson but I still don't totally rule out the possibility of some attempt at some type of "cyber-terrorism" attack to really make us vulnerable as a nation. We've got hackers and hi-jackers constantly trying to pull off nefarious events constantly as it is. Oh I'm sure our national security people are on top of it for the most part but I still don't completely rule out some type of hostile attempt to screw up our internet and national commerce either.
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Re: Corona Virus Possible Effects On The Internet??

#13

Post by The Deacon »

Agree that increased bandwidth usage will be the major effect for on the internet itself and on cable service for those of us who connect that way. OTOH, while more people may be doing more online shopping, at least some others will be thinking twice before ordering anything from individual sellers on eBay and both sellers and buyers may be reluctant to use sites like Craigslist where the actual transactions are done face to face. That said, a week ago today, fear of COVID-19 didn't deter me from doing an Armslist trade for a S&W 360.
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Re: Corona Virus Possible Effects On The Internet??

#14

Post by ChrisinHove »

Internet shopping may be the best/only way to support small businesses for a while.
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Re: Corona Virus Possible Effects On The Internet??

#15

Post by JD Spydo »

ChrisinHove wrote:
Thu Mar 19, 2020 12:35 pm
Internet shopping may be the best/only way to support small businesses for a while.
And I hope that along with the need for updated, on the spot communications will make keeping the internet going a high priority. It's sure been helpful for myself to keep in contact with two friends who are invalids>> they would have a much harder time without it.

I was told that many of our local fast food businesses are taking carry out orders online. Other small businesses here where I live are heavily dependent on their internet traffic to keep their businesses from going bankrupt.

I've got enough food and provisions that I could stay here in my home for at least 90 days if I absolutely had to. I sure hope this blows over before then.
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Re: Corona Virus Possible Effects On The Internet??

#16

Post by flasharry »

Long term (35 years) IT guy here.
The internet was designed to survive - as was its forerunner ARPANET
At the height of the Cold War, military commanders were seeking a computer communications system without a central core, with no headquarters or base of operations that could be attacked and destroyed by enemies thus blacking out the entire network in one fell swoop. ARPANET’s purpose was always more academic than military, but, as more academic facilities connected to it, the network did take on the tentacle-like structure military officials had envisioned. The Internet essentially retains that form, although on a much larger scale.

The Internet is very interconnected, so if something bad happens in a network, other networks typically know of and have alternative paths to reach all the other networks. That's how the Internet was designed. Or to take an airline analogy: If one airline runs out of fuel, passengers can take other airlines to reach their destination. Or if an airport is closed due to bad weather, passengers are redirected to other airports.
The Internet uses BGP (Border Gate Protocol) as its control plane protocol, which is quite good at signalling when a network completely drops off of the Internet, and assigning alternate routes. It’s not perfect as hard interruptions (cable or fiber cuts) in the right places may isolate downstream networks that are single branches, but in general the internet is designed to tolerate network failures quite well. Bandwidth is a potential issue, but that is mostly depending on how your provider has implemented hardware (fibre vs DSL vs cable, as an example) and how they have implemented network controls ( eg DOCSIS levels) and network toplogy. All bandwidth is shared, regardless. Your internet speed is in general controlled at your modem, depending on how it talks to you host backend. As an example, when I upgraded to a higher speed plan,all or took was a modem setting update, done remotely from the host side..
Now the real issue is security and trust protocols. Given that to help ensure connectivity, there is connectivity between edge and core and DNS routers for updates, it’s not too hard to see how a state agency could create a situation where internet traffic is routed through its networks, where data could be captured and analyzed, or if the core routers themselves are compromised, disrupt traffic.. it’s happened in the past,whether deliberately or by accident..
For most folks, internet failures are usually local to your ISP, or last mile failures. Recently, one of the hosting companies I used was cut off from backbone access by a fiber cable cut. I could access the internet just fine, but not any site that was hosted locally by that company..
For the present time , My local provider has opened all its wifi hotspots for general access, and has removed data caps...
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Re: Corona Virus Possible Effects On The Internet??

#17

Post by JD Spydo »

Thank you for that rundown and detailed analysis "FlashHarry" :) That is very reassuring and quite an interesting piece of knowledge you were so generous to share with us. I had heard that the internet as we know it today was originally designed for military communications and that the initial groundwork was laid out in 1969.
I don't think anyone had any idea that the internet would become the modern day marvel that we have at our fingertips now in the year 2020. It's truly been a GodSend in many ways.
With the overall dependence that most of us have with our daily use of the internet I can now see that it would probably be the last thing to go if our current form of government were to fall.
Actually it has added an element of stability to our way of life for us the people and for all branches of the government as well. But thanks again "FlashHarry" for taking the time to explain all of that to us
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Re: Corona Virus Possible Effects On The Internet??

#18

Post by Ankerson »

JD Spydo wrote:
Thu Mar 19, 2020 2:42 pm
Thank you for that rundown and detailed analysis "FlashHarry" :) That is very reassuring and quite an interesting piece of knowledge you were so generous to share with us. I had heard that the internet as we know it today was originally designed for military communications and that the initial groundwork was laid out in 1969.
I don't think anyone had any idea that the internet would become the modern day marvel that we have at our fingertips now in the year 2020. It's truly been a GodSend in many ways.
With the overall dependence that most of us have with our daily use of the internet I can now see that it would probably be the last thing to go if our current form of government were to fall.
Actually it has added an element of stability to our way of life for us the people and for all branches of the government as well. But thanks again "FlashHarry" for taking the time to explain all of that to us

It really started to take off around 1995 when Windowss 95 came out and the PC prices came down a few years later.

That and Compaq Computer Company and AOL really got a lot of people on the Internet.
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Re: Corona Virus Possible Effects On The Internet??

#19

Post by flasharry »

I ran my first web server on a Dell Pentium with 64MB Memory running OS/2 WARP in 1994 - no real HTML editors, used a regular old text editor - Built a HTML: based decision table for our internal Help Desk to help them solve problems..
Its amazing how the internet took off - and if it were to go away that would be a real problem for society these days..
As for the post, you're welcome.. Even knowing how the whole thing works, its really easy to take it for granted. Seems like magic really, when you think about it that it just works..
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Re: Corona Virus Possible Effects On The Internet??

#20

Post by JD Spydo »

Ankerson wrote:
Thu Mar 19, 2020 2:54 pm
JD Spydo wrote:
Thu Mar 19, 2020 2:42 pm
Thank you for that rundown and detailed analysis "FlashHarry" :) That is very reassuring and quite an interesting piece of knowledge you were so generous to share with us. I had heard that the internet as we know it today was originally designed for military communications and that the initial groundwork was laid out in 1969.
I don't think anyone had any idea that the internet would become the modern day marvel that we have at our fingertips now in the year 2020. It's truly been a GodSend in many ways.
With the overall dependence that most of us have with our daily use of the internet I can now see that it would probably be the last thing to go if our current form of government were to fall.
Actually it has added an element of stability to our way of life for us the people and for all branches of the government as well. But thanks again "FlashHarry" for taking the time to explain all of that to us

It really started to take off around 1995 when Windowss 95 came out and the PC prices came down a few years later.

That and Compaq Computer Company and AOL really got a lot of people on the Internet.
Yeah I got one of my very first desktop PCs with Windows 95 during that time slot. I didn't get the internet until about 99 I think it was. It wasn't until about that year that I could get a good deal on it. When the internet first came out there were time limits on the usage of it and the world wide web wasn't nearly the source for great info that it is now. I almost got it about the first time that DSL was offered in our area. But DSL was really expensive till about 99/2000 when several internet service providers got in on it.

I never got my first laptop till about 2004. I had access to them at the school I was attending and all 3 of our local libraries had them for the public as well. I still like laptops over these tablets and many of these other newer devices. I've never used the internet on my phone at all. With the contract I have currently I'm not sure how expensive that would be. Also I don't want to become a cell phone addict>> because I trash mouth those idiots driving every day :D . They are worse that drunk drivers for sure.
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