Could Swine Flu Overwhelm the Internet?
At least that's what a federal government report warned earlier this month. The Department of Homeland Security is responsible for making sure that national and international communication systems (including the Internet) are protected from terrorist attacks or similar widespread calamity. Though Homeland Security has taken steps to protect the Internet from getting overwhelmed, critical and necessary actions remain to be taken, according to the Congressional Government Accountability Office (GAO).
To date, there has been no coordination between the Federal Communications Commission and other governmental bodies to determine if they can, or should, order otherwise autonomous Internet providers to relieve heavy network traffic -- whether by adding extra capacity, installing direct lines to especially important organizations, reducing maximum transition rates, or other measures. Furthermore, the government has yet to mount a campaign to decrease superfluous home Internet use during times of emergency, even though internal research suggests such a campaign would be effective.
Luckily, this is all pretty hypothetical for now. But if the pandemic worsens, work and school absentee rates could reach upwards of 40-percent at any given moment, experts predict. And if the virus does spread, the Internet will almost certainly feel the pressure. At best, we'd all probably experience some slowdown. At worst? Bedlam. Some are skeptical, pointing to the fact that the same Y2K-like doomsday scenario was entertained during the SARS and avian flu pandemics, but never came to fruition. Still, we hope the government gets on it
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Gipionocheiyort said 1:03PM on 10-28-2009
So these are all people who don't use the internet for work/school on a daily basis anyway?
I don't buy it...the increased usage won't be that signifigant over what a person does on a normal work day to make a difference on a larger level. Sure you may have a bit more usage from people who are working and connected through a VPN...but I doubt it would be much more than they use in their job on a daily basis anyway.
You also have to take into account people who may be using bandwidth while at work, but can't if they're home sick (say someone who works in an environment where remote access is locked down). These people not using their normal bandwidth would help to balance out the VPN users.
Of course you have to take into account all of the porn that the average web user views on a day off from work....that could be signifigant.
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cae4761 said 3:21PM on 10-28-2009
It's H1N1, not N1H1
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Dvd said 3:33PM on 10-28-2009
This is Dear Leaders way of saying,get used to the idea of me taking over the internet,get used to me taking away your freedoms.Dear Leader,get used to your cronies being voted out and all of your support being taken away,Dear Leader get used to being a LAME DUCK.
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