Dutch Internet Infrastructure Extremely Vulnerable
A study claims that one well-placed bomb could wreck the entire Dutch Internet infrastructure
One well-placed bomb could wreck the entire Dutch Internet infrastructure. A study by TNO and Stratix , 'Vulnerability of the Internet', says the Dutch Internet is extremely vulnerable. A master plan is needed to safeguard the governmental and economical interests of the Netherlands.
The study prepared for the Ministry of Traffic and Waterways is the first attempt to summarise the treats to the Dutch Internet. The report gives a gloomy picture of the state of affairs. Not only citizens want a secure Internet that protects their privacy and makes reliable on-line transactions possible. Business has an even bigger interest in a reliable Internet. According to a study 42 percent of Dutch business is in some way dependent on Internet and 20 percent is highly dependent. Thirty percent of the companies say there has been interruptions as a result of cyber crime. An estimate of the economical damage is not possible, as there is no central Dutch authority which hold track of incidents.
The government also needs a secure Internet. The government has a special responsibility in safeguarding the Internet, as it is responsible for public security. Internet has not only developed into a critical infrastructure of the information society; other critical infrastructures like the energy and water supply also heavily rely on Internet. The report states:
"Internet can go wrong on many places.[...] The security and reliability of parts of the Dutch Internet infrastructure are sometimes shockingly bad. There is a clear need for a master plan to enhance the security."
According to the study, cyber crime is just one of the threats to the Internet. Another threat is the disruption of the Internet by natural or technical incidents, like floods, power failure or damage to fibre optic cables.
A little disruption can cause huge problems, as the Internet is heavily interconnected. The report states that if one percent of the computers that function as an important gateway crashes, the performance of the Internet is reduced by fifty percent. If four percent of these systems break down, the Internet loses its structure and will collapse into many little networks that are no longer connected.
The Dutch infrastructure is heavily dependent on a common exchange node of all the Internet providers located at the Amsterdam Internet Exchange. The exchange is situated in two nearby locations at Watergraafsmeer. The report slams the security measures at these crucial junctions of the Dutch Internet:
"The backbone at Watergraafsmeer is a single-point-of-failure. The security standard of the complex and the cable infrastructure is not matching the critical economical function that this location actually has."
One well-placed bomb could wreck the entire Dutch Internet, the report states.The physical protection of (fiber optic) cables at critical network and ISP junctions is almost none, TNO claims. It is very easy to find out where exactly the cables are located and they can easily be approached. 'For now the chances of a deliberate disruption of the cable network by activists or terrorists are low. But as the importance of the Internet is growing, we fear that criminals, activists or terrorist will see the cable infrastructure or other critical infrastructure as targets in the near future.' The report points at actions against the WTO in Geneva in October 1999. Activists succeeded in closing down the energy supply to the WTO building.
The report says that the Dutch government does not fulfill its obligations to secure the Internet. 'There is a lack of central co-ordination regarding the government's own information security as well as the protection of crucial state and economical interests.' In Holland there are no organisations like the National Infrastructure Protection Centre or the Federal Intrusion Detection Network in the United States, or the Arbeitsgruppe Kritischer Infrastrukturen in Germany.
According to the authors of the report a central platform has to be created where the government and market parties can plan and co-ordinate a strategic approach to the reduction of the vulnerability. A national emergency centre would have to be prepared to tackle all major Internet crises. The report wants a part of the fiber optic cable net to be reserved for emergency situations. 'The digital highway needs a hard shoulder,' is one of the conclusions of the report.