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.)
