There are still a few days, it was almost unthinkable: cutting total or near total access to the Internet had never been practiced by any government, with the exception of Burma, whose network is poorly developed and where both providers of Internet access are directly controlled by the state. But within hours, the Egyptian authorities have managed to cut off access to the entire network by ordering Internet service providers to interrupt both access protocols DNS (Domain Name Server, which directs computers to the addresses of sites) and BGP (Border Gate Protocol, which indicates which IP addresses are used by ISPs).
While many authoritarian countries have set up a Web filtering based on DNS, BGP use for filtering is less conventional. "In the past, the PMO has already been used for filtering, but always in 'surgical'" explains Rik Ferguson, a security expert for the software company Trend Micro. DOUBLE LOCK In practice, the authorities have ordered the major ISPs in the country to completely block these two protocols, preventing both computers Egyptian "move" on the Internet, and sites hosted in the area.
"Eg "to report their existence to the Internet abroad. Only the ISP Noor is still connected to the network, "or because it has not been ordered to cut access to it, or because he refused to obey," Rik J. Ferguson. Noor proportionally few customers and the company could not be reached Friday morning, explaining why his service is still operational.
One explanation could however be that Noor is the provider of the Egyptian Stock Exchange, whose website is one of the few to still be accessible. According to the operations of service providers abroad, access the system that manages the Exchange to the Internet backbone has been maintained.
Despite what appears to be a precaution authorities to prevent the demonstrators to communicate while preserving its financial system, the consequences of this blockade are multifaceted and, Rik Ferguson warns. "The system of payment by credit card, for example, relies on Internet to validate transactions: it is now impossible to pay in a shop in Egypt using a credit card." A detail to the Egyptian authorities: the phone networks have also been cut.
According to information of the World. com, antennas located in major cities and nearby were cut crippling traffic from all mobile operators, whether 3G networks, voice or SMS. 
While many authoritarian countries have set up a Web filtering based on DNS, BGP use for filtering is less conventional. "In the past, the PMO has already been used for filtering, but always in 'surgical'" explains Rik Ferguson, a security expert for the software company Trend Micro. DOUBLE LOCK In practice, the authorities have ordered the major ISPs in the country to completely block these two protocols, preventing both computers Egyptian "move" on the Internet, and sites hosted in the area.
"Eg "to report their existence to the Internet abroad. Only the ISP Noor is still connected to the network, "or because it has not been ordered to cut access to it, or because he refused to obey," Rik J. Ferguson. Noor proportionally few customers and the company could not be reached Friday morning, explaining why his service is still operational.
One explanation could however be that Noor is the provider of the Egyptian Stock Exchange, whose website is one of the few to still be accessible. According to the operations of service providers abroad, access the system that manages the Exchange to the Internet backbone has been maintained.
Despite what appears to be a precaution authorities to prevent the demonstrators to communicate while preserving its financial system, the consequences of this blockade are multifaceted and, Rik Ferguson warns. "The system of payment by credit card, for example, relies on Internet to validate transactions: it is now impossible to pay in a shop in Egypt using a credit card." A detail to the Egyptian authorities: the phone networks have also been cut.
According to information of the World. com, antennas located in major cities and nearby were cut crippling traffic from all mobile operators, whether 3G networks, voice or SMS.
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