It's meant to be nebulous to allow maximum latitude for interpretation - thus to generate more creativity and a wider range of discussions.
Yes - I think a shutdown to hack for Chinese spy trojans is plausible. Though I'm not sure the Western world could cope with even one day's shutdown. It seems to me that the level to which we have become dependent on the net is near total.
Natural disaster - that could occur with global warming. If it reaches 6ºC, which is feasible according to the worst case scenarios based on no worldwide action to reduce emissions, then the extreme weather events could bring down electricity lines and destroy generators.
Fall of civilization could occur at 5ºC due to inability to rapidly adapt to changing agricultural conditions - worldwide starvation.
Oh, yes! Randy could manage it single-handedly in one apoplectic Vegemite fit. (Apologies, Randy.)
Inky I still live in the Real World since I am not retired or living Stateside. I do apologize if I interrupted the thread. This is my escape from the Twins & real life
If things went horribly wrong at CERN causing some unfortunate fellow-contractor to be thrown back in time to when Tim Berners-Lee was about to start work on the precursor system. Tim was then attacked by the interloper in a fit of rage and frustration, and died without regaining consciousness, and without his plan reaching fruition.