Violent solar storm could trigger “Internet apocalypse”
Solar storm could paralyze the internet. (Image: Shutterstock)
A researcher from the University of California has warned of an “Internet apocalypse” that could be triggered by a violent solar storm. Submarine cables are therefore particularly at risk.
Violent solar storms or coronary mass ejections (CME) can cause massive damage because they disrupt the earth’s magnetic field and can damage power grids, for example. The risk of the resulting power outages has been known for a long time. But the solar flares could also lead to significant problems with the Internet supply, as the researcher Sangeetha Abdu Jyothi of the University of California at Irvine warns.
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Hardly any experience with solar flares
In her lecture Solar Superstorms: Planning for an Internet Apocalypse At the Sigcomm 2021 conference, Abdu Jyothi emphasized that the Internet infrastructure has not yet been prepared for such an event. This is also due to the fact that there have been no violent solar flares with effects on the earth in the past 30 years. Meanwhile, Esa only had two coronal mass ejections with its Solar Orbiter in February observed. However, the particles did not hit the earth.
According to Abdu Jyothi, the problem for the Internet infrastructure is less at the local and regional level. The magnetized solar particles can do little to harm the optical fiber cables. According to the researcher, however, the submarine cables are particularly at risk – because of the so-called repeaters. They are on longer connections every 50 to 150 kilometers to amplify the signals.
Submarine cables most at risk
Your electronic components could be disturbed by a solar flare. The cables are also less often grounded than their onshore counterparts. In addition, the submarine cables would be very difficult to reach for repairs in the event of a malfunction. That would increase the downtime enormously. According to Abdu Jyothi, cables that are located at higher latitudes, i.e. closer to the South or North Pole, are more prone to damage from solar storms, as Wired writes.
Ultimately, a widespread failure of underwater cables could destabilize the entire Internet infrastructure, the researcher fears, and paralyze basic systems such as the Domain Name System (DNS). This could then lead to permanent failures that would ultimately affect most people.
