We’re very happy that Vint Cerf is on our planet.

That was the collective feeling at the NExtWORK Technology Conference after the co-father of the internet Skyped in to talk with Wired’s Steven Levy about the current state of the internet. Actually, more like the future. Cerf described his vision of the “interplanetary internet,” a new networking environment that would “deal with disruptions due to planetary motion.”

“We’re hoping it will be adopted by all of the space-faring nations,” Cerf said. “We’re quite far along in terms of tech capability to operate networks in space.”

On this planet, however, there are other developments to keep a watch on. Cerf said the biggest threat to networks right now are direct but subtle attacks — worms, viruses, phishing and other nasty bugs that catch people unaware. If he would have done everything over again, Cerf would have built more security into the system. Unfortunately, at the time when Cerf was busy designing the TCP/IP protocols and network architecture of the early internet, the tools just weren’t there. Authentication was a problem, secure domain names hard to come by. That’s all changed now.

But it’ll take more than technology to secure the type of Internet Cerf has in mind.

“We must come to common agreements on a global basis,” he said. These types of multilateral agreements are the only way to deal with a world in which it’s possible for attackers to be in one country while victims are in another.

What about Google’s plans for Kansas City? The city was recently picked to be the site of a huge gigabit fiber-optic network, offering superfast broadband at a reasonable price. The innovation is clear — with a ultra high speed connection like this, you could download hours worth of video in 15 seconds, and then watch it at your leisure, without putting a strain on the system.

“Our purpose is not to get into this as a business, necessarily, but to … verify and illustrate what the costs are for implementing such a system.”

And not to worry, Cerf reassures us that he’ll share what he learns from the venture.

“I hope that access to broadband in all of its forms will be equally accessible to everyone,” he said. “We simply don’t want access to the broadband channels to be used in an anti-competitive way.”