Intemet tends to become the largest man-made system, a global event with direct implication on globalization. The information content of Internet rapidly grows. Despite of the fact. that routings, apparently chaotic, show a ceitain degree of connectivity and some self-organizing features, numerous elements of vulnerability are present. The paper reviews some of the research directions in Internet studies and an approach to reduce vulnerability is proposed.
At Internet micro level vulnerability is mainly under control as the complexity is not too high. Vulnerability at macro level results from the architecture of Internet as a network of unreliable elements and from induced incidents. The latter grow exponentially and the attacks are in the forefront of vulnerability. The e-Business development brought the necessity of a much higher level of security. The quick development of Internet has not allowed countering the human factor in vulnerability. This is why the paper raises the question on the study of human society as a source of solutions for vulnerability control. Solutions may be found by analogy with human society confronted itself from the early stages with vulnerability. Various solutions have been found from fortified constructions to sophisticated alarm systems. But to the alternative to safe-proof every house the society opted for laws and law enforcement at community level. This is why tlie author considers that the Internet has to go from almost an absence of regulations to local and global laws. Regulations could reduce vulnerability at much lower costs than the technical solutions. The Internet world will become global, democratic and safe through both technical approach and national and international laws. The summary of the paper: The Internet phenomenon; Research studies on lntemet; Elements of vulnerability; Human interaction as vulnerability element.
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