If the internet suddenly crashed today what would happen

Hello i was just thinking, and this is entirely possible as internet technology in the state it is today has only been around a couple of decades

What if..and this isnt just a unlikely scenario, its a very realistic scenario

What if something failed which sent the entire system into a total shut down
What if a electrical storm fried the system, wiping out everything.

Just think of the trillions of dollars that hotels/businesses/airlines would loose per day
Just think of the places like hospitals which rely on their systems, literally for life and death,
Just think of the atms (which their core systems are run online), not giving out cash, and just think of the banks who can not operate.

Its just insane, how reliant we have become on the internet, with no backup for it whatsoever

A total cut of electric is one thing, because yes itd be inconvenient if you are on a plane and it hapened, but for the vast majority of people on dry land, it would not be that bad if you arent in a vehicle.

But the internet, with so many people basing their lives/ livelihoods on it, if it crashed, and everything was just wiped out, every trace of everything, gone, (dont laugh it could happen)..
what would happen then

Ps, we wouldnt even be able to get on here to moan about it

a reply to: uninfluenced

There are far more serious things to be concerned about than the internet going off-line.
2nd

originally posted by: alldaylong
There are far more serious things to be concerned about than the internet going off-line.

I dunno about that. EVERYTHING is run by internet now. Medical necessities are kept track of and shipped via internet. There are people out here that wouldn't get medication as required. And grocery stores only have a three day supply of food on hand (average). Without the internet, there would be no deliveries.

I'm thinking it would be a VERY big deal.

Mass withdrawal symptoms, psychosis, rampaging, looting, raping before pillaging whats left and essentially all the worst parts of the Bible.

That pretty well covers it!

* Seriously.. have you really watched..and I mean watched closely..the last couple generations and their true, deep addiction to gizmos? Taking one away from a teenager today is like telling them they have been sold into a life of hard labor and servitude. It's silly

No more ATS!!!!!!!

There is very little centralised control on the internet so any one thing blowing up would have little impact since thats what its designed for, the nearest thing possible would be to take out the root DNS servers but they're well protected and located around the world

the amount of destruction needed to shutdown the net would probably mean we're now handing the batton ofrunning the planet to the roaches

...a lot of trolls would be very bored.

Second.

The "all shootings are fake" threads would stop. The crazies would be silenced. And i would smile.
Then i would go outside.

a reply to: Jefferton

You can still go outside.

originally posted by: FlyersFan

originally posted by: alldaylong
There are far more serious things to be concerned about than the internet going off-line.

I dunno about that. EVERYTHING is run by internet now. Medical necessities are kept track of and shipped via internet. There are people out here that wouldn't get medication as required. And grocery stores only have a three day supply of food on hand (average). Without the internet, there would be no deliveries.

I'm thinking it would be a VERY big deal.

So how did we cope before the internet? Man has always adapted to any situation that arises. That's why we are still here today. As i said, the internet going down is the least of my worries.

originally posted by: alldaylong

originally posted by: FlyersFan

originally posted by: alldaylong
There are far more serious things to be concerned about than the internet going off-line.

I dunno about that. EVERYTHING is run by internet now. Medical necessities are kept track of and shipped via internet. There are people out here that wouldn't get medication as required. And grocery stores only have a three day supply of food on hand (average). Without the internet, there would be no deliveries.

I'm thinking it would be a VERY big deal.

So how did we cope before the internet? Man has always adapted to any situation that arises. That's why we are still here today. As i said, the internet going down is the least of my worries.

Itd be worse than you think. The internet going down would mean society would come to a dead stop, at least for the short term. Food shipments, cash registers, banks...all offline. Running water? Nope, done. Electricity? Sorry, it runs on a server. Gas pumps? Shut off. Modern cars? Offline.

It would be mass chaos, at least for a while.

What if..and this isnt just a unlikely scenario, its a very realistic scenario

What if something failed which sent the entire system into a total shut down
What if a electrical storm fried the system, wiping out everything.

But the internet, with so many people basing their lives/ livelihoods on it, if it crashed, and everything was just wiped out, every trace of everything, gone, (dont laugh it could happen).

What you're describing is impossible. Firstly, electrical surges aren't propagated through the Internet. That doesn't make sense for a lot of reasons. Critical data for any sizable organization has redundant offline backups.

The biggest threats are sustained denial of service from something like a coordinated attack on a large provider of DNS services (which has happened) or worse, something like simultaneous sabotage of multiple backbone providers. Most everything mission critical has multiple layers of redundancy. Disaster recovery planning is a big part of IT.

It's funny you mention this. I came into work this morning and the internet was down for what ever reason. We were all running around with our heads cut off. I couldn't send out shipments, I couldn't look up addresses and on multiple occasions I went to use it forgetting it wasn't working. I think if it went down permanently it would take a little while to actually realize how much we depended on it. This business couldn't run without the interwebs.

a reply to: captaintyinknots


Major utilities, i.e. gas, water, electricity always have back up systems. Here in the U.K. they have to by law. In the case of everything else, maybe we could try using the telephone to make orders for essential items, or maybe you could even jump into the car and go and collect it yourself. Let's be honest here, not every single person on the planet uses the internet. Surprising as that maybe.

a reply to: uninfluenced

That's not how the internet works.

en.wikipedia.org...

The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to link several billion devices worldwide. It is a network of networks that consists of millions of private, public, academic, business, and government networks, of local to global scope, that are linked by a broad array of electronic, wireless, and optical networking technologies. The Internet carries an extensive range of information resources and services, such as the inter-linked hypertext documents and applications of the World Wide Web (WWW), the infrastructure to support email, and peer-to-peer networks for file sharing and telephony.

The internet is fairly resilient and can withstand much. But it's not perfect and things can happen. As have in the past.

However should power be knocked out most datacenters would still be in operation. They tend to have their own generators that can be operated on diesel, natural gas etc. Along with battery backup systems that fill a large room.

Should power be knocked out to an area. Internet traffic would be routed around that area in order to keep data moving.

originally posted by: alldaylong
a reply to: captaintyinknots


Major utilities, i.e. gas, water, electricity always have back up systems. Here in the U.K. they have to by law. In the case of everything else, maybe we could try using the telephone to make orders for essential items, or maybe you could even jump into the car and go and collect it yourself. Let's be honest here, not every single person on the planet uses the internet. Surprising as that maybe.

Of course they have backup systems. That doesnt change the fact that they are all run on a server, and thus, would have to be manually overridden, meaning every water plant would have to be offline, at least for a short time, until the man power was available to get them all back up manually. Same with electricity.

The telephone to make orders? Are you serious? Without their shipping systems (all on servers), it doesnt matter how you try to order, as the order couldnt be processed.

Its not about every person using the internet. Its about essential functions and systems using the internet. Thats what you are missing here. You can try and call whoever you want. It their system is based on a server (which most are), it would be pointless.

Try thinking big picture.

A lot of affairs would end, or not begin. Among other things, the internet has become a tool to enable people to commit adultery. People who might not otherwise go down that road.

Well one thing for sure Canada Post business would skyrocket. And The global economy could do a reset. Perhaps we would all become a little closer and find all things that unite us as opposed to all our subtle differences. "Kumba ya my lord".....Erhm sorry drifted off there.

a reply to: uninfluenced

a reply to: uninfluenced

Ahhh we would get burned by the light after leaving our basements or troll caves.

a reply to: uninfluenced

Nothing much different, except I wouldn't be on ATS and I could forget about my websites.

I guess in my spare time I could play a few games, cut the lawn or bake cookies?

Cheers - Dave