Cyberwarfare: The most dangerous kind might not even require a PC
errant.me.uk
errant.me.uk
The Internet is a graph with many interconnected nodes, and when one node fails traffic is routed through other nodes. If you cut out the right nodes the resulting traffic will overload the nodes that the traffic is redirected to, causing them to fail too, and in turn rerouting to other nodes that will also fail under the increasing load. A cascading failure.
I remember reading a report where someone calculated that if the right three major routers in the US were taken out the entire Internet would grind to a halt within minutes. This could probably also be achieved by cutting the right cables.
The real danger is terrorists with shovels that know their graph theory.
Anyone who knows graph theory is probably unfit to dig any physical holes.
I'd put this on the same "level" as bombings and so forth.
it's way way more simpler than that. London's primary data store is in a number of buildings on the edge of Docklands/Isle of Dogs, on a road called Marsh Lane. Leading away from that, is limeharbour, and on this road there are at least 100 man hole covers, showing the logos of all the main transit companies (colt, etc). Here, let me show you: http://bit.ly/qvEXM
how hard, exactly, would it be to lift these covers and snap all the cables in sight?