Automated DLR conflict detection

Sun Dec 30 04:24:59 UTC 2001

On Sat, 29 Dec 2001, Steven M. Bellovin wrote:
> Yes, but insurance companies often move in and set certain behavioral
> requirements as a coverage requirement, just to cut their own payouts.
> To give just a couple of examples, both Underwriters' Laboratories and
> the National Electrical Code are spinoffs of the insurance industry.

We don't wait for buildings to burn down before checking the electrical
wiring.  We don't take the electrician's word the wiring is correct.  A
building inspector checks the wiring before the walls are covered up.  Its
not perfect, and the inspectors can miss alot.  But its proven to be more
effective than trusting the builder will do the right thing.

Where are the building inspectors for the Internet?

As the insurance industry figured out, SLA's alone don't improve things.
You have to inspect and verify.  How can I inspect and verify a carrier
did what they promised?  If I pay for a diverse circuit, can I check it
is in fact diverse?

Is it a matter of money?  The Chicago Board of Trade had a multi-day
network failure.  The New York Stock Exchange had a multi-day network
failure.  The NASDAQ had multiple shorter network failures.  Essentially
all of them traced back to carrier problems.

You could hire me to inspect your network, but that doesn't scale.