Brussels, 04/05/2011 (Agence Europe) - A new report on the resilience of the internet interconnection “ecosystem” has been launched by the EU's 'cyber security' Agency ENISA (the European Network and Information Security Agency). The focus of this report is the complex “ecosystem” of the interconnected network layers that make up the internet and it identifies a number of concerns. “The stability of the internet is critical for the economy of modern societies, therefore we must identify if the resilience mechanisms in place today will be effective also in future crises of tomorrow”, declared Professor Udo Helmbrecht, Executive Director of ENISA.
The internet has so far been extremely resilient. Even major disasters such as “9/11” have had only a local impact. Now, a systemic failure of the internet would cause significant problems for several sectors like energy, transport, finance, healthcare and the economy. The report emphasises that the internet has no central Network Operation Centre. The open and decentralised organisation is the very essence of the ecosystem and is essential for the success and resilience of the internet. Yet, there are a number of concerns. For example, the internet is vulnerable to technical failures, risks, cyber attacks and simultaneous disruptions; service could be substantially disrupted by other failures e.g. in the electricity supply. There is remarkably little information about the size and shape of the internet infrastructure or its daily operation. In its recommendations, ENISA recommends that incidents and investigations should be conducted by an independent body in order to understand the nature of success and failures. Good practice should be identified and followed, e.g., diverse service provision (pluralism), auditing practices and independent testing of equipment and protocols. (I.L./transl.fl)