These Countries Hold the Keys to the Internet

Seven very important people right now hold the keys to rebooting the internet, should something catastrophic happen. The key program, is part of an internet safety initiative by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN).

ICANN has a security protocol called Domain Name System Security (DNSSEC) that ensures that URLs go to the legitimate websites that they are supposed to. Should an attack happen and the links between servers are severed, a minimum of five out of seven key holders must convene at a bunker in the United States to restart the system and the connections between them.

Aside from the U.S., the other key holders are: Canada, Britain, Burkina Faso, Trinidad and Tobago, China, and the Czech Republic.

The keys themselves are smartcards that each contain parts of the DNSSEC root key.

(Source: PopSci.)

Marcus Yam
Marcus Yam served as Tom's Hardware News Director during 2008-2014. He entered tech media in the late 90s and fondly remembers the days when an overclocked Celeron 300A and Voodoo2 SLI comprised a gaming rig with the ultimate street cred.