|
North American Network Operators Group Date Prev | Date Next | Date Index | Thread Index | Author Index | Historical Re: Cascading Failures Could Crash the Global Internet
"sgorman1" == sgorman1 <[email protected]> writes: sgorman1> I believe the comments about heterogenous networks has to do sgorman1> with a measurement called assortivitiy that is used in sgorman1> statistical mechanics. A homogenous network is when nodes sgorman1> connect preferentially to nodes like them. In a sgorman1> heterogenous network they connect to nodes that are not like sgorman1> them. For networks like the Intneret and the electric grid sgorman1> it is measured by the number of connections a node has. sgorman1> The kicker, that the author's are alluding to, is that the sgorman1> more heterogenous a network is the more vulnerable it is to sgorman1> targeted attack. By taking out a highly connected node - sgorman1> lots of poorly connected nodes that use it as a hub are sgorman1> lost. The AS network had the highest heterogenous score of sgorman1> real-world tested networks, so lots of folks on that sgorman1> bandwagon. I don't see how the fact that a network is homogeneous or heterogeneous has anything to do with how well connected it is. The only possible sense to this I can see is that, statistically, you are more likely to have a platform that the attacker has a viable attack for if you have lots of different platforms. But at the same time, if the attacker only has one exploit (or whatever attack vector), then you are also in a MUCH better position than someone who's network is made up 100% of that platform. I'm still not sure how having a homogeneous network helps. Either you aren't explaining it well, or I'm being stupid. I consider both possibilities to be equally likely at this point. ;-) IMHO, Michael
|