[LINK] The net according to Cerf (at Davos)

[Jan Whitaker]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/davos07/2007/01/the_internet_is_doomed.shtml

The internet is doomed

     * Tim Weber
     * 25 Jan 07, 12:09 PM

Folks, the internet is doomed, will you all 
please form an orderly queue for the exit


I have just got out of a session on the future of 
the internet, with an incredibly strong panel: 
the “father” of the internet, Vint Cerf, who 
co-developed TCP/IP, that’s the internet 
protocol; Michael Dell (guess what business he is 
in); Hamadoun Toure, the secretary general of the 
International Telecommunication Union; New York 
Times technology writer John Markoff; and Jon 
Zittrain, professor for internet governance at Oxford University.

Ok, I tricked you. We are not quite doomed yet. 
But these guys are deeply worried about security 
on the internet. We are not talking about 
tiddly-winks like a stolen credit card number 
here or a dodgy online retailer there.

Malicious hackers and criminals are controlling 
more and more computers in this world, bringing 
them together to form botnets, which allow them 
to attack websites and commit online fraud on a massive scale.

This is not new, I hear you shout. Yes, it’s a 
known threat. But the numbers I heard today are staggering.

According to Vint Cerf, of the 600 million 
computers that are connected to the internet, up 
to 150 million are part of botnets, and in most 
cases the owners of these computers have not the 
slightest idea what their little beige friend in the study is up to.

[link to full story at end of this bit at the URL above]


Jan Whitaker
JLWhitaker Associates, Melbourne Victoria
jwhit at janwhitaker.com
business: http://www.janwhitaker.com
personal: http://www.janwhitaker.com/personal/
commentary: http://janwhitaker.com/jansblog/

'Seed planting is often the most important step. 
Without the seed, there is no plant.' - JW, April 2005
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