Issue #1
September 2001
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Editor’s Note: All links on this page are to graphs illustrating internet accessibility.
Trauma on the Internet
September, 2001
by Peter H. Salus
The attacks of September 11, 2001, on the World Trade Towers and the Pentagon resulted in a major rent in the fabric of the Internet. But, as a packet-switching network is intended to be resilient, the Internet proved its robustness.The actual moment of impact at the World Trade Center is quite visible and dramatic.
Looking at the days surrounding the event shows both the event and the aftermath. A glance at a four week period is even more dramatic. Specific locations (like 25 Broadway) , are clearly visible, and when they suffer a power failure, it is very visible. Thus, the few hours afterwards show the healing process.
That this is notable can be seen by examination of earlier disruptive `attacks': the Spanish April Fool virus; the DDoS `smurf' attack of 8 Feb. 2000; or natural disasters: Hurricane Floyd , 17 February 1999; or the Northridge Earthquake , 17 Jan. 199
Peter H. Salus, Ph.D. is an executive at Matrix, an internet traffic-monitoring company headquartered in Austin, Texas. He can be reached at peter@matrix.net
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