Why Outdated Protocols Threaten Global Connectivity

When you send an email or stream a video, you’re tapping into a system built on technology from the 1980s. At the heart of the Internet are two core protocols: DNS (Domain Name System) and BGP (Border Gateway Protocol). These systems help route traffic and translate website names into IP addresses, but they were designed in an era when the Internet was smaller, trusted, and mostly academic.

Fast forward to today, and the cracks are starting to show. Recent high-profile outages, including incidents involving Cloudflare and regional service blackouts, highlight just how fragile this global infrastructure has become.

Worse still, malicious actors can exploit these weaknesses. BGP hijacking, for example, allows attackers to reroute internet traffic through unintended, and potentially hostile, networks, raising both security and privacy concerns.

DNS, the system that tells your browser where to find websites, is also vulnerable to attacks like DNS spoofing or cache poisoning, which can mislead users into visiting fake sites that steal data or spread malware.

While tech companies regularly patch these systems, many experts argue that band-aid solutions are no longer enough. The Internet has evolved far beyond what its original architects imagined, and it now serves billions of users globally. This has prompted calls for a comprehensive reevaluation of internet architecture, with a focus on security and resilience.

Upgrading the Internet’s core protocols won’t be simple, but as digital life becomes ever more essential, so does the need for a modern, secure, and robust network foundation. Without it, the experts fear that the risks of widespread disruptions and cyber threats will only continue to grow.