The title of the topic refers to a novel that develops… conspiracy theories from the ones that many people like to circulate. However, things are different and very specific in the case of the “seven keys that control the Internet”. These are real keys that are scattered in various regions of the planet and which are held by seven different people, to whom they have been attributed by ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers), a non-profit organization based in the USA that is responsible for assigning numerical addresses to websites and translating them into the normal web addresses that we type every day, (e.g. www.digitallife.gr).
James Ball, a journalist for the English newspaper The Guardian, conducted a particularly interesting reporton what these “seven keys to the Internet” are. For this reason, he was in Los Angeles, the headquarters of ICANN, where, in fact, he was lucky enough to witness one of the “key ceremonies” that take place every year, under unprecedented security conditions of course, for understandable reasons.
But why are these “seven keys” important for Internet security? To understand this better, one must think about how important the work of ICANN is in terms of overseeing and regulating Internet naming and how valuable the data in the organization’s database is. The organization, therefore, controls the domain name system, our well-known DNS, which one could simplistically claim to be the Internet version of a telephone directory , as it corresponds web addresses with numbers (i.e. IP Addresses). It is not a big exaggeration to say that, if someone could gain access to this ICANN database, they could practically… control the Internet in a way . Imagine a simple example, a hacker who gains access and how he could change the correspondences of numbers and URLs , sending people to fake banking pages. And of course, the corresponding examples could be infinite…
ICANN is quick to clarify, however, that, beyond naming, "they are not responsible for many issues related to the Internet, such as financial transactions, control of Internet content, spam, gambling, or issues related to data protection and privacy."
However, to avoid having so much control and so much responsibility concentrated in one person, regarding their responsibilities, ICANN has selected seven people in seven separate regions of the world, giving them the “keys to the Internet”. These are physical keys, which unlock seven safes scattered across the planet and have “smart” key cards. If these are placed together, a “master key” which is a kind of code, a password in other words, which allows access to the ICANN database.
This is a select group of security experts from around the world. All have a vast background in Internet security and have worked for large international organizations. They have been selected based on their experience and geographical distribution, as no country is allowed to have more than one key.
Seven more people around the world have access to different types of smartcards. These are backup solutions that form a part of the code necessary to rebuild the system in case something catastrophic happens.
Four times a year since 2010, two on the East Coast and two on the West Coast of the United States, the seven key holders meet in a special ceremony in which a new password, a new master key, is created. The security of the ceremony is very high and anyone involved must pass through a series of locked doors using codes and biometric hand scanners until they enter a highly secure room…
Read James Ball's very interesting report in the Guardian about his experience of watching such a ceremony of the key holders and then watch the following video he created...
https://youtu.be/fou6_rWTa7k
Source: digitallife.gr
