About a quarter of the world’s Internet users live in high-risk countries than previously thought to target attacks on their internet infrastructure. Many high-risk countries are located in the Global South. This is the culmination of a long, extensive study of computer scientists at the University of California San Diego. Researchers surveyed 75 countries.”We wanted to learn about online topology in order to find weak links that, if threatened, would expose the whole nation,” said Alexander Gamero-Garrido, a first-time Ph.D. in computer science at UC San Diego.
Researchers presented their findings at the Passive and Active Measurement Conference 2022 online this spring. The structure of the internet can vary greatly in different parts of the world. In many developed countries, such as the United States, a large number of Internet providers are competing to provide services with a large number of users. These networks are directly linked to each other and exchange content, a process known as direct viewing. All providers can also connect directly to the global Internet infrastructure.
“But much of the internet does not work with network communication agreements,” said Gamero-Garrido. In some countries, many of them are still developing, most users rely on a few providers to gain internet access, and one of these providers works for the majority of users. Not only that, but those providers rely on a limited number of companies called transit autonomous systems to gain access to global internet and foreign traffic. Researchers have found that these are often the owners of a public transportation system.
This, of course, puts countries with this type of internet infrastructure at risk of being attacked because all that is needed is to disable a small number of private transport systems. These countries, however, are also at risk if the primary internet provider encounters a breakdown. In the worst case scenario, a single transport system works for all users. Cuba and Sierra Leone are close to that. In contrast, Bangladesh has moved from just two system providers to more than 30, after the government opened up the sector to private businesses.
Internet in Global South
This emphasizes the importance of government regulations when it comes to the number of internet providers and private transport systems available in the country. For example, researchers were surprised to find that most drivers of underground Internet cafes are in government rather than privately operating. Researchers also discovered traces of colonialism in the topology of the Internet in Global South. For example, the French company Orange has a strong presence in other African countries.
Researchers rely on Border Gateway Protocol data, which tracks route exchanges and accessible information between independent online programs. They know that data may be incomplete, presenting what may be incorrect, although this reduces the process of research and validation by real, in-country operators. The next steps include looking at how critical facilities, such as hospitals, are connected to the Internet and how vulnerable they are Quantifying Nations’ Exposure to Traffic observation and selective tampering (PDF)Alberto Dainotti (now Georgia Institute of Technology), Alexander Gamero-Garrido (now Northeastern University), Bradley Huffaker and Alex C. Snoeren, University of California San Diego Esteban Carisimo, Northwestern University ShuaiHao, Old Dominion University.
For more read: University of California – San Diego. “A quarter of the world’s Internet users rely on infrastructure that is susceptible to attacks.” https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/05/220527101249.htm
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