Better Offline

How To Break the Internet with Chris Stokel-Walker

Sep 27, 2024

In a deep dive into the internet's precarious infrastructure, journalist Chris Stokel-Walker and tech commentator Ed Zitron dissect the recent CrowdStrike incident, revealing the shocking vulnerabilities in our digital world. They tackle the fragile state of open source software and the pressing need for greater support. The discussion highlights the societal implications of technology failures, while also addressing the fragile clouds and content delivery networks that keep our online lives running, stressing that accountability is crucial for tech's future.

43:56

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Episode guests

Ed Zitron

Chris Stokel-Walker

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Quick takeaways

Recent cybersecurity incidents, like the CrowdStrike outage, expose the fragility and interconnectedness of our technological dependencies, highlighting their potential for widespread disruption.

The critical role of open source software in the internet's infrastructure is undercut by its vulnerability and the lack of support for the volunteers maintaining it.

The concentration of essential digital services among a few major providers creates systemic risks, emphasizing the need for diversity and accountability in technology infrastructure.

Deep dives

The Fragility of Cybersecurity Systems

Recent cybersecurity incidents highlight the fragility of our dependencies on technology. An outage caused by CrowdStrike's misconfiguration demonstrated how a single flaw can lead to widespread disruptions, resembling a scene from a disaster movie. This incident served as a wake-up call, revealing how interconnected and precarious the tech landscape is, with many systems built upon unstable foundations. The reliance on automated systems increases the risk, as errors can cascade through various platforms without immediate detection.

Fundamentals of Dependency: Recognize the Undervalued

01:42

Profit Compromises Integrity

01:21

Embrace the Gloom: A Realistic Perspective

00:25

Intro

5min

Bugs in the System: Vulnerabilities in Modern Technology

9min

Tech Responsibility and Social Perspectives

7min

The Open Source Paradox

11min

CDNs: Vulnerabilities and Value

8min

The Fragility of Cloud Services

14min

Diverse Sponsor Highlights: From Drama to Real Estate

3min

Just over a month after the CrowdStrike debacle, Ed Zitron is joined by journalist and author Chris Stokel-Walker to "stokel-walk" through the brittle patchwork of open source, non-profit and for-profit entities that hold up the internet - and how calamitous it would be if any of them buckled.

Article: https://www.independent.co.uk/tech/crowdstrike-trigger-global-meltdown-cyber-fail-amazon-b2586523.html

Follow Chris: https://x.com/stokel

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