Читать книгу The Digital Big Bang - Phil Quade - Страница 10

If we take on the mindset of a cybersecurity historian, we can look at the big picture in the same way and attempt to understand what is driving it forward. Consider these observations:

 While it took billions of years for the physical world we know to create and sustain human life, it took just 50 years from the beginnings of the Internet as ARPAnet in 1969, for the explosive forces of digital speed and connectivity to transform human society.

 Ninety percent of all the data in the world ever created was generated in the last two years. Bang!

 The Internet itself—a vast and hyperconnected data transmission system—now creates 2.5 quintillion bits of data per day. I don't even have a fathomable analogy to characterize how much that is—but it's 18 zeros.

Digital technology has come to enmesh and propel nearly every aspect of modern life, from the operational infrastructure that keeps our cities and towns powered and functioning, to the now almost entirely digitally driven systems of global finance, security, and energy production. The rapid transference of digital information is how we connect, communicate, and—in many ways—sustain human life, order, and a tentative semblance of peace on Earth.

Our opportunity is to describe how the digital big bang progressed over time, understand its significance, and do something smart and productive about it.