The possibility of an “Internet apocalypse” disrupting the Internet worldwide due to a large-scale solar storm –GIGAZINE

People all over the world are connected to the Internet, which has become an integral part of modern life.Sun LanBlocked by the influence of “Internet apocalypseIt may happen in the near futureUniversity of California, IrvineStudy Computer Science inAbdu joteiPoint out and ask for countermeasures.

Solar Superstorms: Planning for an Internet Apocalypse
(PDF file)https://www.ics.uci.edu/~sabdujyo/papers/sigcomm21-cme.pdf

An ‘Internet Apocalypse’ Could Hit Earth With The Next Solar Storm, New Research Warns | Living science
https://www.livescience.com/solar-storm-internet-apocalypse

A solar storm is a large-scale sunSolar flareIt was released whenSolar windIt is a phenomenon in which the earth reaches the earth and severe geomagnetic fluctuations and radiation affect the artificial satellites and electronic devices of the earth. You can read more about solar flares and solar storms in the following articles.

What are the solar activities “solar flares” and “coronal mass ejections” that can have a great impact on Earth? – GIGAZINE

A solar storm of a scale affecting electronic devices on earth is estimated to occur with a probability of 1.6 to 12% in 10 years. Several solar storms of this magnitude have been reported in the past, for example the large-scale solar storm that occurred in 1859.Carrington EventThe telegram system was stopped, the telegraph tower turned on, and the telegram paper spontaneously turned on.In addition, in March 1989, due to the effects of a solar storm, CanadaQuebecThe entire area is in a situation of power outage for 9 hours.

Used for internet connection in recent yearsFiber optic cableIt is less susceptible to geomagnetic fluctuations caused by solar storms. For this reason, Mr. Jotei speculates that the Internet connection in the area connected by the fiber optic cable is unlikely to be affected, but is laid in the seabed for intercontinental data communication.Submarine cableA repeater is installed in the station for the amplification of the optical signal, and this repeater is easily affected by geomagnetism. As a result, solar storms can disrupt repeaters and affect large areas of internet connectivity, Jotei notes.

The map below shows the areas where large data centers are located, but you can see that high latitude areas are more concentrated in data centers than low latitude areas. According to Jotei, high-latitude countries like the United States and the United Kingdom are more susceptible to solar storms than low-latitude countries, in the case of a large-scale solar storm., It seems that there is a high possibility that the Damage will occur frequently in high latitude areas where data centers are densely populated.

“Repairing undersea cables can take weeks or months,” Jotei said. “The economic impact of Internet failures in the United States is estimated at more than $ 7 billion a day. What would be the impact if the Internet blackout lasted for days or months?”, Emphasizing the magnitude of the impact of the storm. solar in the world.

“The new coronavirus pandemic has revealed humanity’s lack of preparedness for the global crisis. The same is true of the Internet. Humans are prepared to block the Internet due to a sunny storm. We have not done so,” he said , arguing that we need to take action against large-scale solar storms that may occur in the near future.