Do you know who controls the internet?

This may sound like something out of a science fiction movie, but the internet is actually controlled by 14 people who hold seven secret keys. Just imagine, seven actual, physical keys, held by different people from all around the world, that together control the security of the internet. It may sound a little over the top, but is it in fact true?

There is a highly secure ritual known as a key ceremony, here’s how it works…

So a lot of us (including myself) don’t actually know this, but there is an organization called the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers or otherwise known as ICANN, the people of ICANN conduct this key ceremony. They are responsible for giving numerical internet addresses to websites and computers and then translating them into normal web addresses that we type into our browsers.

Here’s an example, type 173.194.113.177 into your browser and you’ll be taken to Google’s web page, but if you simply type in www.google.com it is so much simpler to remember. So, overall ICANN maps the numbers which is easier for computers to use with words which is easier for humans to use.

Picture someone gaining control of ICANN’s database, that person would be able to take control of the internet! They could do anything to cause havoc, like send people to fake websites instead of the real ones, so ICANN decided not to entrust so much control to just one person. The organization chose seven people as key holders and gave each person an actual key to the internet; they then selected seven more people to be backup key holders – the 14 people who hold seven secret keys.

It may seem a bit complicated, but this is how the keys work:

- The physical keys unlock safe deposit boxes kept around the world
- Inside the boxes are smart keycards
- Put the seven keycards together and you have the “master key”

Sounds like something out of a movie, right? Well, the master key is really some computer code/password that can access the ICANN database. The key ceremony happens four times a year and has been going on since 2010; during the ceremony a new master key is made which means a new password.

All this is taken really seriously and the security at the ceremony is really intense, its like something you would see for nuclear launch codes or presidential visits! Members of the ICANN have to pass through a series of locked doors using key codes and hand scanners, until they get to a room that is so secure that no electronic communications can escape it.

This slightly bizarre ceremony seems to work to keep the internet under control and secure, but whether you believe that the internet is control by 14 people who have secret keys and all that jazz, is all up to you!

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Written By: Christine Romans
CopyWriter at The Computer Guyz Cape Town