Re:Internet 'kill switch' proposed for US
by mschaecher on Thursday June 17, 2010 @06:09PM
(#1440564)
You nailed it. I was going to mention the EMP stuff, but backed away.
A high altitude nuclear detonation above the continental US is the first strike protocol for any nation-state that would try to attack us. Even then, a lot of our military's core command and control infrastructure has been hardened to withstand such an EMP for decades--as it was known that a high altitude detonation over US soil was the Soviet's plan for a first strike...That is why Cuba was such a big deal. Still, the EMP would completely decimate every non-hardened electrical system.
Re:Internet 'kill switch' proposed for US
by SkyMarshal on Saturday June 19, 2010 @09:27AM
(#1444604)
Yeah, the military systems may be able to survive, but it could cause mass havoc among the 300 million civilians, so still a decent first strike.
Re:Internet 'kill switch' proposed for US
by mschaecher on Sunday June 20, 2010 @07:34PM
(#1447420)
decent is an understatement
It would be something more Pearl Harborish, like a nuke or EMP detonated in space over the US that fries our communication networks and power grid.
In which case, this proposed kill switch would be redundant.