#Factcheck: Internet shutdown will not affect 99 per cent users, clarifies ICANN

NEW DELHI: Don't worry, your Internet services are not going to be shut down. The ICANN Organisation has clarified that the Root Key Signing Key (KSK) Rollover which is underway now will have a minimum impact across the world. The change in cryptographic keys, which was announced in August, has already been underway for well over a day and not had any significant impact on Internet services yet.

However, across India stories have been viral since Friday morning warning users of a 48-hour Internet shutdown. The stories emanated after news agency ANI quoted an RT.com story for the same. "The headline is click bait," an Icann.org spokesperson in Singapore said in a written reply.

"Note that data analysis suggests that more than 99% of users whose resolvers are validating will be unaffected," Icann's reply said, underlining how there will be minimal impact to users.

In a July 2018 blog, Icann had said the same. It had said the decision to roll the root zone KSK was being made after a significant outreach effort and careful consideration. It had then started reaching out to over a thousand Internet Service Providers (ISPs) "with the most active resolver traffic".

Only if "all of a users' resolvers do not have the new KSK" with the user will start seeing name resolution failures at some point within the 48-hour rollover. But it is almost impossible to predict when the operators will notice this failure.

However, just about 1 per cent users are expected to be affected as per ICANN data as those "who use at least one resolver that is ready for the rollover will see no change in their use of the DNS or the Internet in general after the rollover".