Would it be possible to shut down the whole internet?

Don't tell the hackers...


Asked by: Lucy Fraser, Kent

No. The internet is a network of networks, in which messages are routed as packets of data using the TCP/IP addressing protocol. It is like you and several friends setting off on a road trip, each taking separate routes to arrive at the same destination - but regardless of roadblocks and diversions on the way, you all arrive in exactly the same order that you left. Similarly, internet data splits and reassembles itself automatically, regardless of which networks you take down.

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