In this age of technology when people have started to think that they are free to roam about and live their lives freely. The truth, however, is 180 degrees opposite to it. Internet is the center and key element in the lives of most of us, and it is being controlled by 14 people using 7 keys only. Calling it the internet cult would give a feeling of some Dan Brown novel, but that is not far from the truth anymore.
The keys that control the internet are not some passwords, these are actual physical keys, and a highly secure ritual known as the key ceremony is regularly conducted for the security of web. Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) is responsible for assigning numeric internet addresses to websites and computers and translating them into normal web addresses that we type into our browsers.
You can enter the same website using the numeric address or name of the web link. Since remembering words is easy, this is the way it goes. You use the words that are easy for you, and the computer uses the numbers that it is able to process.
Anyone who has a control of ICANN’s database has the control over the entire internet, so much that they could even send people to fake websites instead of the real ones. Whenever a disaster like that happens, ICANN will need to rebuild their database entirely, so they came up with a power distribution idea so as no person can have much control over it. Seven people have been selected as key holders, and assigned one actual internet key, while 7 other have been picked to be backup key-holders who make a total of 14.
Safe deposit boxes are stashed around the world that are accessible only by those 7 keys. The boxes contain smart key cards, the seven of which come together to form the master key. This master key is actually a computer code or password that can give an access to the ICANN database. The seven key holders meet thrice a year for the key ceremony, and generate a new master key.
Anyone entering the ceremony passes through strict security that involves doors with key codes, hand scanners, and finally a room that blocks out all sorts of electronic communication. The group performs the ritual and then moves out of the room one by one to celebrate.
The group conducts the ritual, then each person files out of the room one by one, and then they all head to a restaurant and party. James Ball of the Guardian got to observe the ceremony and wrote the account in detail. The very first of these ceremonies was conducted in 2010, and the video below shows that:
Doesn’t it look like some kind of a science fiction with 14 superheroes using 7 magical swords to control the entire planet? What do you think about this? Share with us in the comments section below.
