Analyzing and Understanding the Increasing (Real) Centralization of the Internet

Abstract

Today, many services and servers are practically centralized, such as email or hosting via Content Delivery Networks (CDNs), but also via “as-a-Service” providers, who constitute yet another layer of centralization by being “behind the facade” for many Internet services of many different operators. This centralization may be inevitable due to the threats operators face, be that the exploitation of vulnerabilities or becoming victim of a denial-of-service attack with its associated harms. The convenience and scalability that centralized systems offer is a value proposition that is too often too difficult to beat; these factors outweigh the decision to maintain full control and privacy. This transformation from decentralization to centralization extends far technical considerations though. It results in a consolidation of power that is susceptible to abuse, misuse, and of societal concern. In fact, taking an economic perspective, centralization in business is not rarely contested by antitrust agencies due to its potential to stifle competition.

As part of this project, we will investigate the many faces that centralization on the Internet takes, gain insight of the extent to which the Internet is already centralized, and aim to better understand the corresponding consolidation of power, how it affects and impacts operators, users, and society technically (e.g., performance), in terms of security and privacy, and their own understanding of it. Different from prior work, we aim to target “real” centralization instead of focusing purely on technical centralization.

Current measurement platforms allow to assess some levels of centralization at vast scales and globally distributed already, but they do not offer the necessary flexibility to target higher-level centralization. Therefore, as part of the project, we are developing a new global measurement platform with application-layer capabilities, extending beyond the capabilities of existing and proven measurement platforms. We will make our platform available to other (verified) researchers, initially primarily through active collaborations. Ultimately, our findings will provide new and critical insights for operators, users, policymakers, and governance bodies navigating the evolving centralized Internet.