I see no problem with the government having the ability to do this in an extreme emergency.
I mean think about it, in a future world where the power grid and other essential utilities are all part of the network not to mention military and security, I think it's important to have an arsenal of protection against cyber attacks.
Imagine a scenario where some group in Russia or the Chinese military launch a cyber attack crippling our power grid and water or a worst case scenario, maybe they cripple all that plus communications while planning ot launch an attack (I know extreme, but you never know)...the last thing I want to hear from our government is "oh uh sorry, we can't do anything to stop this DDoS attack so we'll just have to deal".
Had dinner with a "strategic network planner" this past week. She told me what she did and I told her that she was not doing a very good job. There need to be set gateways for the country. Place them around the country so the physical network kinda matches the virtural network. These set gateways would be the only way into and out of the country. Then when that cyber attack comes, the gateways are closed and everyone inside is allowed to at least communicate on the inside. Infected boxes could be isolated and cut off.
"Net Neutrality" is the first step to over regulation. The road to **** is... you know the cliche. The problem is what defines "an extreme emergency". To some the oil spill is, to some it is not. To some Katrina was, to some it was not. Using the kill switch at any level, company, corporate, national, some are gun shy and some are trigger happy. "Rogue email!
KILL THE GIBSON!"
What needs to happen is companies need to get internet and tech savvy enough to conduct their own business. This includes the ISPs. Hmmm.
Known site spewing out malware? Blocked. You have a bad subnet? Blocked. As a network admin, you don't know your subnets and IPs?
You're Fired!
More than a first step to over regulation, "net neutrality" is an excuse for companies and IPs to be security LAZY.
(Finally, as a moderator, you see my IPs and where I post from. The best advice I can give you and the members of this forum is to stay away from websites based in the countries you listed.
And you'll be pretty safe.)
