The Internet Kill Switch: Internet May Shut Down for 24 Hours in 2017

December is the time of the year when industry predictions happen. This ranges from potential advancements in the field of technology, to rather alarming predictions about the global economy. Here is one: the internet may shut down for 24 hours.

The news came to Business Insider after an interview with James Carder, the chief information security officer and vice president of Log Rhythm, the U.S. technology security vendor.

And it seems it is not just about the selfies.

Carder said it's going to be a "big hit" somewhere, but he cannot predict where exactly. He told Business Insider the main alarming sign were criminals "testing missiles by shooting them into the ocean."

According to AOL, another contributing factor was the massive DDoS against DynDNS a few months back. This already took down sites such as Twitter and Spotify for a few hours, and this was hours just after DDoS hit Brian Krebs. This implies these were just tests.

This is saying that if we can take down massive sites and a larger chunk of the US internet for a few hours, then cutting it out for 24 hours will be eventually a piece of cake.

Carder also said the entire debacle about "fake news" could get worse and even have hackers reach massive sites such as CNN and Fox News.

This means the sphere of influence is starting to shift away from mainstream news outlets and into bogus fake news.

According to the original Business Insider piece, this can be an effort on the part of hackers to "protect freedom of speech."

Simon Howe, an Australian executive, also predicted that ransomware on mobile may be far more prevalent in the New Year and may be used to extort money from unsuspecting users.

Howe, LogRhythms' ANZ director of sales, said attackers may target consumers and hold their personal data hostage. For example, they may threaten to send out or delete photos unless a ransom is paid.