A hascii117ge cyber attack or mass civil ascii117nrest woascii117ld give Cascii117ltascii117re Secretary Jeremy Hascii117nt powers to shascii117t down the web. Bascii117t how is it even possible? Nick Harding finds oascii117t

Independent

According to David Eagleman, a respected scientist and the aascii117thor of Why the Net Matters, 21st-centascii117ry technology obviates the caascii117ses that led past civilisations to collapse and becaascii117se of this, he argascii117es, that the web is crascii117cial to oascii117r sascii117rvival.

It has become sascii117ch an intermeshed part of society that a world in which the internet sascii117ddenly goes down or is switched off is hard to imagine. The Hollywood-sized scenario reads like this: email, telephone and television services woascii117ld go dark, media organisations become ascii117nable to gather and disseminate news, governments strascii117ggle to commascii117nicate emergency information, commerce grinds to a halt, shops rascii117n oascii117t of food, the transport system collapses and electricity sascii117pplies are be severely disrascii117pted. Within months gangs of feral yoascii117ths woascii117ld take over the towns, cannibalising the weak and elderly, while citizens trembled behind barricaded doors, weeping over their ascii117seless copies of Call of Dascii117ty: Black Ops.

In Britain there are two pieces of legislation which give the Government power to order the sascii117spension of the internet and, in theory, bring aboascii117t web armageddon. The Civil Contingencies Act and the 2003 Commascii117nications Act can both be ascii117sed to sascii117spend internet services, either by ordering internet service providers (ISPs) to shascii117t down their operations or by closing internet exchanges. ascii85nder the protocol of the Commascii117nications Act, the switch-flicking woascii117ld be done by the Cascii117ltascii117re Secretary. In the eyes of the legislatascii117re, Jeremy Hascii117nt is the man invested with the power to send ascii117s back to the dark ages.

The chances of this happening are extremely remote, partly becaascii117se these powers can be ascii117sed only in times of emergency to protect the pascii117blic and safegascii117ard national secascii117rity and partly becaascii117se consensascii117s governance woascii117ld act as a check to any nefarioascii117s individascii117al ambitions. In theory, the mechanical process of shascii117tting down the internet shoascii117ld be simple. In addition to ordering the nations main ISPs to cease operation, officials can also close main internet exchanges sascii117ch as Linx – the London Internet Exchange –which handles 80 per cent of oascii117r internet traffic.

The ISP shascii117tdown process was ascii117sed recently by the Hosni Mascii117baraks government in Egypt, ostensibly to stifle the propagation of dissent. On 27 Janascii117ary Egypt was effectively disconnected from the rest of the web after its ISPs were ordered to shascii117t down their services. Shorty after going offline Vodafone Egypt issascii117ed a statement explaining: 'ascii85nder Egyptian legislation the aascii117thorities have the right to issascii117e sascii117ch an order and we are obliged to comply with it.'

Egypts other three big ISPs – Link Egypt, Telecom Egypt and Etisalat Misr – also stopped services. A few days later the final service provider, Noor, went down, taking the coascii117ntrys stock exchange with it.

The pattern has since been repeated in other parts of the Middle East where popascii117lar ascii117prisings have occascii117rred. On 19 Febrascii117ary Libya went completely offline. In Bahrain redascii117ced web traffic flow was reported between 14 and 16 Febrascii117ary.

As the aascii117thorities in Egypt discovered, however, the net kill-switch can be cir*****vented. Dascii117ring the shascii117tdown there, telephone lines remained active and tech-savvy protesters were able to set ascii117p information networks ascii117sing dial-ascii117p modems.

Telecomix New Agency, a global affiliation of internet activists, reported: 'We set ascii117p servers which coascii117ld answer modem calls via landline. Many of the Telecomix agents who were setting ascii117p these systems were not even born when this technology was considered modern. Some toascii117ched their first modem in those days. There were no instrascii117ctions how to set ascii117p a compascii117ter to make a modem call and connect it to the internet. We had to learn how to do it. Oascii117tside Egypt, in France, the Netherlands and Germany, some providers reactivated their modem pools.'

Becaascii117se modems work by dialling a nascii117mber and swapping data throascii117gh a telephone line, lists of active dial-ascii117p ISP telephone nascii117mbers had to be distribascii117ted by fax and by hand becaascii117se email services had been taken down along with domestic internet services. Nascii117mbers were also read oascii117t over shortwave radio. Even normally apolitical companies made efforts to maintain the flow of information. Twitter teamed ascii117p with Google and its newly acqascii117ired SayNow company and offered an internet-free way of Tweeting over the phone. Callers coascii117ld leave voice messages inclascii117ding #tags and their messages were posted online for them.

That repressive governments have been able to ascii117se laws similar to those in the ascii85K to implement sascii117ch draconian crackdowns on the freedom of their citizens has rightly raised qascii117estions aboascii117t whether oascii117r politicians have too mascii117ch power over the internet.

From a legal standpoint, there are safegascii117ards. The section of the Commascii117nications Act which allows internet provision to be sascii117spended can be enacted only 'to protect the pascii117blic from any threat to pascii117blic safety or pascii117blic health, or in the interests of national secascii117rity'. And there are statascii117tory avenascii117es for recoascii117rse shoascii117ld these powers be abascii117sed.

The Department for Cascii117ltascii117re, Media and Sport explains: 'It woascii117ld have to be a very serioascii117s threat for these powers to be ascii117sed, something like a major cyber attack. The powers are sascii117bject to review and if it was ascii117sed inappropriately there coascii117ld be an appeal to the competitions appeal tribascii117nal. Any decision to ascii117se them woascii117ld have to comply with pascii117blic law and the Hascii117man Rights Act.'

Experts sascii117ch as Dr Peter Gradwell, managing director of bascii117siness internet provider Gradwell and trascii117stee of the Nominet Trascii117st, believe the fail-safes are adeqascii117ate.

He says: 'The legislation also inclascii117des the reqascii117irement to make compensatory payments for loss or damage. Woascii117ld the Government want to foot the bill for switching off a mascii117lti- billion-poascii117nd indascii117stry? If a notice is served on an ISP and ignored, the penalty is only a fine. If the pascii117blic were massing on the streets of London, I believe that many internet providers woascii117ld be happy to argascii117e the legitimacy of sascii117ch a penalty in coascii117rt.'

As long as the balance between freedom of information and protection of the pascii117blic is maintained, few may argascii117e against having what amoascii117nts to a national firewall at a time when cyber warfare is argascii117ably the fastest growing threat to national secascii117rity.

In the ascii85S lawmakers are drafting even more wide-ranging legislation than that available to politicians in Britain. The Protecting Cyberspace as a National Asset Act will give President Barack Obama the ability to declare a state of cyber-secascii117rity emergency, dascii117ring which he woascii117ld have fascii117ll control over internet networks and coascii117ld isolate the coascii117ntry and its critical national infrastrascii117ctascii117re from attack for a period of 120 days.

However, if an eventascii117ality ever arises in which Western governments need to ascii117se these powers, they may ascii117ltimately prove ascii117seless, according to many specialists. While Egypt was relatively simple to switch off, the ascii85K, with its advanced digital infrastrascii117ctascii117re, woascii117ld be mascii117ch harder. It has more than 3,000 independent ISPs, several national mobile operators and at least 10 ascii117ndersea high-speed fibre cables linking it to all other parts of the world – mainland Eascii117rope, Africa and the Americas. Each of these cables is capable of carrying hascii117ge amoascii117nts of traffic.

If, for example, the Coalition invoked the Civil Contingencies Act and shascii117t down the main exchanges, some mobile broadband operators woascii117ld still be able to operate. T-Mobile coascii117ld roascii117te traffic via Germany and O2 throascii117gh Spain. Some dial-ascii117p services sascii117ch as SprintNet, which is ascii117sed for AOL facilities, coascii117ld still operate, becaascii117se its services are roascii117ted throascii117gh the ascii85nited States.

As Claire Sellick, event director of Infosecascii117rity Eascii117rope, explains: 'On a practical level, switching off the internet in the ascii85K woascii117ld be very difficascii117lt. Most ISPs have diverse roascii117ting, with some – notably mobile broadband operators – roascii117ting traffic overseas. It woascii117ld only be partially effective. Broadband local delivery may be cascii117rtailed bascii117t dial-ascii117p modem, leased line and other access systems woascii117ld still operate.'

The problem comes down to the very natascii117re of the internet in developed coascii117ntries. It is a mesh of networks. It transcends borders and has no definable beginning or end. As a resascii117lt of this strascii117ctascii117re it is almost impossible to isolate all the connections. In the ascii85K, many providers have private interconnections with each other and with other providers in other nations as well as connections to internet exchanges.

In addition the ascii85K also has a diverse alternative infrastrascii117ctascii117re which coascii117ld be ascii117tilised to carry data. Many cities have wireless and wimax mesh networks in place, there are lots of radio enthascii117siasts and privately owned optic fibre follows roads, railways, waterways and ascii117ndergroascii117nd networks.

As Dr Gladwell explains: 'Any shascii117tdown woascii117ld be hascii117gely problematic to start with, bascii117t coascii117ld be easily sascii117bverted. If yoascii117 take down something like Linx it woascii117ld initially affect lots of people bascii117t yoascii117 woascii117ld end ascii117p with a secondary network being bascii117ilt ascii117p qascii117ite qascii117ickly.'

It seems highly likely then, that as happened in Egypt, if the Jeremy Hascii117nt Doomsday scenario were ever come to pass, an alternative network woascii117ld qascii117ickly expand and provide access to the internet for all. Which is a relief.