The state of the network in the covid-19 era

Introduction

The Covid-19 era has introduced a series of changes which are still being unfolded and which are bringing a profound impact on the lives of billions of people around the world. New terms such as "the future of work", "remote working" and "remote learning" are being used in at an increasing pace. The consequences of using Internet-based services for remote working and learning may have a sociological and psychological effect on people but above all they pose a significant overhead in the state of the network and the operations of the interconnected Internets comprising what is known as the global Internet. This article provides an overview of the state of the network in the covid-19 era.

The state of the network

The COVID-19 pandemic has changed the way the world lives, works, and connects. TeleGeography is curating news and providing analysis on the impact this is having on global networks. Telegeography has put up a blog with live information collected from hundreds of network operators, datacenter operators and ISPs around the globe which report on the state of the internets comprising the global Internet. A few notable status sites reporting on the state of the Internet traffic amongst the pandemic are the following:

Also all major network and cloud service providers have set up a dedicated web app for gathering all alerts and real time information as well as other useful information in response to the covid-19 pandemic. The most notable ones are the following:

IXP maps and databases

According to Wikipedia, an Internet exchange point (IX or IXP) is the physical infrastructure through which Internet service providers (ISPs) and content delivery networks (CDNs) exchange Internet traffic between their networks. IXP databases provide real time data regarding the flow of Internet traffic before and during the pandemic. The most notable IXP maps and databases are the following:

CDN real time maps

Content Delivery Networks work in conjunction with ISP networks to provide data and services to billions of users worldwide in an efficient and cost effective manner. The following sites are representative of the CDN networks available worldwide:

Internet Cyber attacks real time maps

In parallel with the legitimate traffic increase during the covid-19 era we are also experiencing an increase in the hacking and cracking traffic as malicious attempts are growing in numbers day by day. The following sites provide real time visualizations and maps of the ongoing cyber security threats:

As more sophisticated exploits and malware are coming to the scene, an incrasing number of companies are committing to the new security trend named zero trust security and zero day protection.