The internet is not some single entity. It’s a collaboration of all countries all over the world sharing their IP addresses with each other using open standard protocols so that everyone can talk to everyone. To get a single country cut off from the rest of the world would require active participation from every country around the world which is highly unlikely. At most you’d just have some or most countries participating in the ban.
What would happen to North Korea in that case? For the common people, nothing. They are already living with very limited and filtered access. For the government agencies that have full access, they would likely work a deal with a country to get the rest of the internet routed through them.
Isn’t it just a matter of cutting off a couple of undersea cables? Sure satellite will still be available, but disrupting those cables can take out most of the country’s connectivity.
Isn’t it just a matter of cutting off a couple of undersea cables?
North Korea isn’t an island. It shares a land border with Russia and China. My guess is that North Korea’s main telecom connectivity is through China. If China is cutting off North Korean internet, internet access is the least of its worries.
Yeah sure, you can cut the cables. But like you said, alternate means of accessing the information exist as well. Technology limitations can be very difficult to enforce and maintain due to how quickly it can grow and evolve if people are motivated enough. Which the North Korean government definitely would be.
It’s probably easier than you think. I suspect interconnects are consolidated into a handful of buildings. Satellite might be more difficult but need a clear line of site to the sky, making them visible targets.
It’s probably easier than you think. I suspect interconnects are consolidated into a handful of buildings.
That’s true for pretty much all countries. Virtually all countries have a few sites that are responsible for routing the majority of the countries Internet traffic. The trick is keeping it that way. It’s very easy to throw in some kind of band-aid solution to get it back up and running if you are able to throw enough resources at the problem.
The internet is not some single entity. It’s a collaboration of all countries all over the world sharing their IP addresses with each other using open standard protocols so that everyone can talk to everyone. To get a single country cut off from the rest of the world would require active participation from every country around the world which is highly unlikely. At most you’d just have some or most countries participating in the ban.
What would happen to North Korea in that case? For the common people, nothing. They are already living with very limited and filtered access. For the government agencies that have full access, they would likely work a deal with a country to get the rest of the internet routed through them.
Isn’t it just a matter of cutting off a couple of undersea cables? Sure satellite will still be available, but disrupting those cables can take out most of the country’s connectivity.
North Korea isn’t an island. It shares a land border with Russia and China. My guess is that North Korea’s main telecom connectivity is through China. If China is cutting off North Korean internet, internet access is the least of its worries.
Yeah sure, you can cut the cables. But like you said, alternate means of accessing the information exist as well. Technology limitations can be very difficult to enforce and maintain due to how quickly it can grow and evolve if people are motivated enough. Which the North Korean government definitely would be.
It’s probably easier than you think. I suspect interconnects are consolidated into a handful of buildings. Satellite might be more difficult but need a clear line of site to the sky, making them visible targets.
A few well placed explosions would cripple NK.
That’s true for pretty much all countries. Virtually all countries have a few sites that are responsible for routing the majority of the countries Internet traffic. The trick is keeping it that way. It’s very easy to throw in some kind of band-aid solution to get it back up and running if you are able to throw enough resources at the problem.