Next grand challenge of computing: How to reinvent the internet?
The internet has provided people with unprecedented access to information, transforming network and information access into a quasi public good. Societies increasingly rely on the internet, making it a key pillar of public life in modern societies. Given its importance, a key question is how to improve the internet to achieve a level of reliability that is commensurate with its importance.
Across the globe, a rapidly growing stream of digital activity pulsates through cables and airwaves. Shopping, e-mailing, blogging, tweeting - the internet has revolutionized the world like few innovations before it. Asia alone counts about 1.3 billion internet users and the amount of data they create and share increases constantly. However, the architecture, which the whole society relies on, is not flawless when it comes to the transfer of data. Computer science professor Adrian Perrig from ETH Zurich proposes nothing less than a re-invention of the internet - a new internal design to remedy the discrepancies and pave the way for a simple, safe and reliable internet.
Trustworthiness is paramount in an 'always online' world of circulating big data and unwanted hacker attacks. One shortcoming is potential network breakdowns. Networks which are not available to users for as little as ten hours per year can cause major damage to companies or financial markets. Both depend highly on the stability of time-critical information. A second failure is that of service shut-downs: misconfigurations between internet routers may cause an entire platform or operation to cease, such as data centers of financial institutions or social media platforms - either locally or even globally. Another peril of today’s internet is apparent in unwanted surveillance: the routes to the sender are unknown and sensitive data may be redirected and/or manipulated.
Prof. Perrig has a total 'internet reboot' in mind: Scion, a clean-slate internet architecture, is designed to provide route control, failure isolation and explicit trust information and shall enhance internet efficiency, safety and simplicity. The central idea revolves around the division of the internet into independent units, so-called 'isolation domains'. In every domain, the autonomous systems control the paths along which data is exchanged. By separating domains, data traffic can no longer be influenced. Nevertheless, the new structure still allows for a global exchange of data - via edge routers at the boundaries of the individual domains. Data packets instructed to be sent between domains can stipulate how the data reaches the edge router, but no longer have any influence on how the information is subsequently processed in the new domain. With this solution, every domain is protected against hostile attacks or misconfigurations. Prof. Perrig asserts: "I am convinced that Scion can boost both the security and reliability of the internet. With this system, it would actually be even easier to combat state censorship laws or intrusion by foreign services."
Prof. Perrig collaborates with a number of researchers and companies in Japan, China and Korea which believe that the 're-invention' is possible and necessary. Businesses see the attractiveness of Scion particularly in its cost-effectiveness: not only does the new protocol make it easier and less CPU-intensive to control data traffic, but it also provides firms the possibility to offer new services in regards to data protection. Network operators could issue customers with a guarantee that sensitive data will not make any detours abroad.