A solar superstorm is a massive eruption of plasma and magnetic fields from the sun that can disrupt or damage the global internet infrastructure, particularly the undersea cables that underpin the internet. Learn more about the possible effects of a solar superstorm on the internet and how we can prepare for it. Solar superstorm could “wipe out the internet” for months, scientist says A solar superstorm is a massive eruption of plasma and magnetic fields from the sun that can cause geomagnetic disturbances on Earth. Such events are rare, but they have the potential to disrupt or damage the global internet infrastructure, especially the undersea cables that connect continents. What is a solar superstorm? The sun is constantly emitting streams of charged particles, known as the solar wind, that interact with the Earth's magnetic field. Sometimes, the sun also produces more powerful bursts of plasma and magnetic fields, called coronal mass ejections (CMEs), that can travel at speeds ...