Log Jam
Japanese Tweets sent as the New Year 2011 came in Tokyo boosted traffic within the network to a record 6,939 tweets per second (TPS). The figure more than doubles the previous record of 3,283 TPS, set during Japan’s surprise victory over Denmark in summer’s World Cup in South Africa.
"Just four seconds after midnight in Japan on January 1st, Twitterers set an all-time record in the number of Tweets sent per second. At that moment, the world sent a staggering 6,939 TPS wishing friends and followers a fond ‘Akemashite omedetou gozaimasu’ (‘Happy New Year!’)." Twitter said that in Japan, with a population of over 127 million, "mobile networks have been known to crash under the strain of this collective cheer. This year, on New Year’s Eve, many people turned to Twitter to celebrate."
So here we are.
You navigate and work on the Internet thanks to this sequence of letters and number, but the number of available IPv4 addresses is expected to run out before the end of 2011, experts say. Indeed with the proliferation of smart phones, mobile devices and sensors, all of which use IP addresses, the total number available is endangered. So is your use of your favorite digital object. Time to migrate to the newer IPv6 standard? Not so easy. Let's see why with a few experts and reviews quotes sampled here:
"Internet Protocol Version 6 (IPv6) is a version of the Internet Protocol that is designed to succeed Internet Protocol version 4 (IPv4). IPv4 is the first publicly used Internet Protocol and has been in operation since 1981. In 1998, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) ratified a new Internet Protocol, IPv6. It shifts to a 128-bit IP address space (each broken into hexadecimal groups), which means around 340 undecillion (340 times 10 to the 36th power) possible addresses, or billions of addresses for every living person. This expanded space is critical for the continued growth of the Internet.
IPv6 benefits will include a level of security baked into the protocol. IPv4 was designed for an "age of innocence" with a small Internet population. IPv6 is for a bigger, more cynical age, so it carries capabilities for verifying addresses and known identities, and establishing trust between routers. It should become harder, for example, for criminals to use "address spoofing" attacks, where Websites or e-mail messages misrepresent where they come from.
IPv6 era routers and firewalls will provide greater protection against anonymous attacks, with much simpler and more reliable, secure connections for business computers moving financial and other sensitive data among servers and back offices."
But not simple:
"Top of the list for 2011 is managing privacy obligations, “especially with reference to the use of cloud computing, and the growing use of social networking in larger organizations.” Also high up on the agenda is managing computer security. “The criminals are having a purple patch here at the moment caused by a combination of the commoditisation of malware, the division of labour allowing increased specialization by cyber criminals, and the limited security skills of general users.” The adoption of IPv6, which may be on the technology roadmap for major users but which is just not intuitive like IPv4." IPv4 still works anyway, so convincing business owners to invest in IPv6 will continue to be difficult."
Solution required.
Until now, the internet has been treated like "an uncontrollable independent external entity." Some already use it for their private eyes, some call it also cyberwar*, thanks to the underground web (used by dissidents, secrets services, militaries, hackers, netizens, lawyers, reporters). This year we'll see some serious attempts to bring it under the control by traditional power brokers [these are governments] In practical terms, most of these efforts will come to nothing! But one thing is sure everyone tries to protect even more one's data after the Cablegates by Wikileaks.
" The National Security Agency is building one of the largest and most expensive data centers as a place to gather and analyze intelligence data. At $1.2 billion, this is the largest Department of Defense construction project underway. Officials broke ground at the site 25 miles south of Salt Lake City Thursday, and it will give NSA diversity with a separate data center beyond the one it has in Ft. Meade, Md., says NSA Deputy Director J. Chris Inglis. "In an era when our nation and its allies are increasingly dependent on the integrity of information and systems supported, transmitted, or stored in cyberspace, it is essential that that space is as resilient and secure as possible," says Inglis in a written statement... Construction starts this summer and will last nearly three years, partly because the government plans to spread funding for it over that period. Construction jobs could number up to 10,000 and permanent jobs once it is completed could number 200. " (itworld) unquote.
* Cyberwar, definition: "an attack that would cause the same type of destruction as the traditional military, with military force as an appropriate response."
URL quoted:
Sources: PC world, readwriteweb, replica imagesofthepast,
computerworld & Reporter's notes
How to fight spams? Maybe with a good firewall?
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