Telecommunications cables into Iran/ME severed...

[Subdivisions]

Iran's internet is dead. ME internet communications are spotty.

No internet activity going into or inside Iran:

http://www.internettrafficreport.com/history/267.htm

Al Jazeer reporting:

http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/F9FE6553-D2E1-4325-B243-83D47A9C3809.htm

Apparently, two undersea cables were cut at two different times and a third was cut later.

http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&taxonomyName=disaster_recovery&articleId=9060339&taxonomyId=151&intsrc=kc_top

-snip-

Michael Coe, a spokesman for AT&T Inc., said that two cables were cut and that AT&T has been routing traffic around the damaged area. One of the cables is owned by U.K.-based Flag Telecom Group Ltd., and the other is owned by a consortium of several companies that includes AT&T called SEA-ME-WE4. The consortium is investigating the damage and arranging for repairs, he said.

Flag Telecom told The Register that ships were anchored in an unusual location off the coast of Alexandria, Egypt, and a ship's anchor cut into the cable.

A Flag spokesman said the company was in the process of sending a repair ship to the site to assess the damage, but it warned that repairs could take 12 to 15 days.

Verizon Communications Inc. was also routing some customer traffic around the cable cuts, according a report. A Verizon spokeswoman said that the two cuts occurred at separate times, with the first to the SEA-ME-WE4 at 11:30 p.m. yesterday (EST) and the second at 2:30 a.m. (EST) today. She speculated that the cuts may have been caused by a ship dragging an anchor; the consortium is still investigating.

-snip-

Ok people, what does it mean when three sub-sea cables in different locations leading into Iran and ME are cut? How could this happen?

[TCJ70]

1. I think it means that...

...three cables broke, and it could have happened for any number of reasons.

[Subdivisions]

Please, explain. n/t

[TCJ70]

8. Explain what? How cables get cut/break? n/t

[Subdivisions]

16. Of course. That was my original question after all. n/t

[TCJ70]

18. OK...

Ship drops anchor and it lands near a cable. Boat moves and rips cable apart, boat continues moving with anchor weighed and rips through another section of it.

Simultaneously, this happens elsewhere. Mystery solved. Way to go boats. heh

[Subdivisions]

22. Anchors? ... Ok. n/t

[TCJ70]

25. Yep. Anchors...

...these cables aren't always buried.

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

38. *

[Deja Q]

Like with underground power lines; digging in the wrong place.

[Warpy]

2. Once is an accident. Twice is suspicious. Thrice is intentional

However, the governments all have backup satellite systems. They're not completely blacked out. Only the citizens and businesses are SOL unless they too have satellite system backups.

[TheDebbieDee]

14. I agree! This sounds like the signal for the start

of something.

[backscatter712]

42. This is scary.

Three cables have been severed, and in such a way as to completely cut Iran off from the Internet.

What are the Bushtards and their CIA buddies up to?

:scared:

[Warpy]

43. The government is not cut off

because they had redundant satellite systems. Major businesses are probably the same, along with the major universities.

They're not cut off. They're just horribly inconvenienced.

[sharp_stick]

3. It means the tinfoil hats are going on!

:tinfoilhat: :tinfoilhat: :tinfoilhat:

A big section of India and SE Asia is also out or slow because of it.

On edit: It looks like only two were cut, which one is the third?

[Subdivisions]

7. What does tinfoil have to do with something that is admitted by

both ATT and Verizon in the cited article?

Where is the tinfoil?

[sharp_stick]

12. ATT owned one of the two lines

ATT and Verizon say they are rerouting around the broken lines. The tinfoil goes on because wild conclusion jumping can be dangerous to synapses.

[Subdivisions]

17. Did I express a "conclusion"? I asked how this could happen. n/t

[NeedleCast]

21. You asked how it could happen

Yet the article expresses a perfectly reasonable explanation...a ship dragging an anchor snagged and snapped the cable(s). Because these cables are exposed on the sea floor most of the time, it's a reasonable hypothesis, yet you chose RED ALERT! as the first two words of your topic, which to me, expressed some sort of conclusion that you thought some deliberate and malicious thing had taken place.

[Subdivisions]

23. So where is the goddamned ship that fucked up the cables?

Wouldn't a ship's crew notice such a thing?

[NeedleCast]

27. Who knows?

I can't speak for every sailor in the world however even with little motor boats I've seen people churrning across my local lake dragging an anchor chain. On a ship the size of a small city, it's quite possible that no one would notice. Tens of thousands of ships transversing the ocean as we speak, some the size of a canoe, some the size of a 15-story building laid on it's side.

Could have been caught in the propellor screws of a submarine, who knows. I think just about the least plausible explanation is some sort of US secret ops against Iran. If you were going to try and fuck up someone's internet access, this would be a dumbass way to do it, becasue it's a simple fix...you go plug in a new length of cable. There are hundres of undersea cables running across the ocean...not like this is some sort of new high tech thing we've discovered. Lot of these lines were originally used to send telegraphs.

[stillcool]

29. two were cut yesterday...

and a third was cut today. I sure would like to know how that could happen and I do not have to jump to any conclusion to surmise that something doesn't sound too kosher. In your opinion is this a regular occurrence? Is it isolated to other parts of the world or are we susceptible to cable cutting here?

[Subdivisions]

32. Here is the type of cable used for undersea applications:

http://archive.ericsson.net/service/internet/picov/get?DocNo=11/28701-FGC101838&Lang=EN&HighestFree=Y

[NeedleCast]

36. This is an Anchor

When said anchor is dragged by a ship that displaces 40,000 tons, it makes a steel reinforced cable resemble a bit of string.

Here's another, just for a little size comparison

[stillcool]

46. well hell...

those must be some ships that pass in the night. These cuts were in different areas? And different pipes?

Application
The GASLMLTV, 40-ton DAH is a Double Armored Heavy 4-fiber ribbon for submarine installation where extra high protection is required. For example, landings, where no additional protection such as articulated pipes are used.
This submarine cable is based on our well-proven 4-fiber ribbon cable design. Added on to the inner PE-jacket is a waterproof copper tube, followed by a second outer polyethylene jacket and a double layer of galvanized steel wires. The complete cable is wrapped with a layer of polypropylene yarn.
The steel wire reinforcement provides a heavy-duty mechanical protection, enabling installation and reliable operation under severe conditions.
High packing density of the fibers is provided by the ribbon technique. This permits a small outer diameter and fast splicing for cables with high fiber count.
The slotted core cable has high crush load resistance due to the radial shape of the slotted coreprofile, which provides a protective cavity for the ribbons to rest in.

[NeedleCast]

35. Assuming you know where the cables are

It would actually be quite easy to go about cutting them, or just dropping really heavy shit on them and breaking them. The question is, why would you do it? If you're doing it to disrupt over-seas internet connectivity, you're wasting your time because, as I and others pointed out, these cables are fairly easy to repair, there are satellite backups, there are large numbers of redundant cables that traffic could be re-routed to, etc. Why go to that kind of effort when you could presumably hire some "hackers" to pull a DDOS attack? It's a Murphey's Law sort of thing.

Think about it like this. If I didn't want you to drive your car I could bake up some elaborate plan where I sneak into your driveway every night and put a single drop of acid on some vital car component and wait for it to break down...

Or I could just punch a hole in your tire with a screwdriver.

If you're going to cripple someone's internet access as a prelude to some sort of military action, this is a really stupid way to do it.

I don't have any idea whether or not this is a regular occurance or not. I'd kinda be surprised if it didn't happen from time to time because these are exposed cables. They just sit there on the ocean floor (occasionally they get covered by grit or sand). Back in the 60s or 70s there was a whole big to-do about them because people said the Russians were hacking into them with submarines. Same sort of scenario...being that it's pretty close to the least efficient way to hack something, why do it?

[timtom]

55. Life has become so interesting since 2000.

So many coincidences. So few explanations (except for ..... chance!

And for this particular cluster (2 or 3) to occur now.

That certainly is one for Ripley.

[moodforaday]

70. You suffter from a "failure of imagination",

to quote a classic phrase. This is like saying that if you want to rob a bank, cutting off their power supply and alarm system is a "dumbass" way to do it, because the bank will fix the lines. You cannot possibly be that naive, or best of luck to you if you are!

Fixing an underwater cable will take weeks. It requires highly specialized ships and equipment. You have to raise the cable from the bottom, splice it, then put it back. Iran (or any ME country) didn't lay the cables themselves; most likely a big Western telco investor did. (Google for "FLAG cable", I don't have the time right now to find out exactly who operates the cable, will check later.)

Three cables in as many days is not an accident, otherwise it would be happening a few times a month, every month.

You cut off comms to do something. A few days may be a sufficient window of opportunity. Or, you cut the cables to make a point. Iran was about to start trading oil for Euros in February, how's that for an incentive?

[Ghost Dog]

47. The third, cut this morning, is in the Gulf off Dubai:

A submarine cable in the Middle East has been snapped, adding to global net problems caused by breaks in two lines under the Mediterranean on Wednesday.

The Falcon cable, owned by a firm that operates one of the previously damaged cables, was snapped on Friday morning.

The cause of the latest break has not been confirmed but a repair ship has been deployed, said owner Flag Telecom.

...

Flag Telecom said a repair ship was expected to arrive at the site of the first break - 8.3km from Alexandria in Egypt - on 5 February, with repair work expected to take a week.

A repair ship deployed to the second break - 56km from Dubai - was expected to arrive at the site in the "next few days", the firm said.

...

The first cable - the Fiber-Optic Link Around the Globe (FLAG) - was cut at 0800 on 30 January, the firm said.

A second cable thought to lie alongside it - SEA-ME-WE 4, or the South East Asia-Middle East-West Europe 4 cable - was also split.

FLAG is a 28,000km (17,400 mile) long submarine communications cable that links Australia and Japan with Europe via India and the Middle East.

SEA-ME-WE 4 is a submarine cable linking South East Asia to Europe via the Indian subcontinent and the Middle East.

...

The cause of the break has still not been confirmed. The third break is unlikely to disrupt commerce in the region as many business are closed on Fridays.

/... http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7222536.stm

[moodforaday]

69. Third one:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/em/-/2/hi/technology/7222536.stm

[gkhouston]

4. ...

:tinfoilhat: grabbing my plastic and duct tape now.

[Subdivisions]

19. So, what's tinfoil about wanting to know how three

undersea cables could become severed? What's tinfoilly about that?

[Javaman]

34. Not the how but the why....

:tinfoilhat:

[TalkingDog]

71. Why? That's incredibly obvious.

They were old and need to be "fixed"

We'll "fix" them because we are nice upstanding people who like to do the right thing.

And if we just happen to put something in there to disrupt them at will or something that can route information our way or send information their way, well, that's just the price of doing business.

It may not be about what information is getting TO the country, but what's coming FROM it that is valuable or interesting.

And granted, it could all be entirely coincidental. But I'm sure somebody is taking those lemons and desperately trying to make lemonaide.



My Favorite Master Artist: Karen Parker GhostWoman Studios

[Javaman]

73. In responce...

read this. After which, re-evaluate my :tinfoilhat: I think it is justified.

http://www.energybulletin.net/39844.html

[redqueen]

74. Holy God...

Now that is one HELL of a coincidence.

[Javaman]

75. Now this...

Ships did not cause Internet cable damage

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=3167788&mesg_id=3167788

[stillcool]

5. That doesn't sound good.

[smiley_glad_hands]

6. Its either coincidence.

Or something is up? Does seem odd.

[DCKit]

48. Three cables in two days, two serving the ME and one to India

What are the odds? A single cable break anywhere is usually big news, but three different cables and three different incidents in two days?

I don't need any tinfoil for this one. It's either a blatant message or a prelude. However, until proven otherwise, I'm not going to jump all over the WH on this one. I don't think they're that creative.

[NeedleCast]

52. Why?

What kind of military advantage would you gain from cutting these cables?

If a "blatant message," what is the message? That we can disrupt access to western porn?

[DCKit]

60. Why would you assume I think it's military?

It could be a political, an economic even a terrorist act. Any moran with cash can hire a big boat with big anchors. Waterways the world over are filled with them every weekend. It's going to take ten days to two weeks to get the cables repaired and the economic damage to India's call centers and the American companies who use them is going to be substantial. Is there motive? Who benefits? Maybe we'll never find out.

I'm not posting under the moniker "Psychic_Fiend" today 'cause my crystal ball is in the shop. I'm willing to wait until something develops - or doesn't - before I begin analyzing what may have been behind these incredibly unlikely mishaps. However, given the rarity of even ONE cable being damaged, anywhere, in a year's time, makes the cutting of two in the ME and three cables total, in only two days, highly suspect.

If you want instant, reactionary and unfounded opinion, I'm not the best source. What's Faux News saying?

[librechik]

9. DON'T GET ME STARTED!

:wtf:


:tinfoilhat:


:scared:

[snappyturtle]

10. Sounds like a plan to me...by whom? To avoid being called a

conspiracy theorist, I'll let it rest. More interestingly, WHY were they cut? What's going to happen that 'they' don't want the internet spreading? OK...I couldn't help myself.

[havocmom]

66. If the citizens of Iran can't go online to the rest of the world

and a tree fall is the forest, does anyone hear a scream for help?

[snappyturtle]

72. Sad but true point . n/t

[ReverendDeuce]

11. Hillary Clinton cut the cables!!!1111

Kidding, of course.

[NeedleCast]

13. It happens

Three is a bit suspicious. If I were going to point my finger at anyone though (and I'm not at this point), it would be the Iranian government. I'm sure the fundies running the show in Iran (or any fundies for that matter) would love a stop to the flow of information into and out of that country.

Most of those cables are just lying on the sea floor if they're more than 100 or so meters from the surface. Usually their fairly easy to repair. If my understanding is right, most of these cables are mile to mile and a half long segments of fiber-optic cable plugged into boxes that boost the signal as it crosses the ocean. If a section gets cut, it is replaced by a new section and you're back up and running again. There are usually several redundant systems to prevent exactly what is happening. Seeing as the first two cuts were only three hours apart, the ship dragging an anchor hypothisis is resonable.

[LanternWaste]

37. I think three is a more than a bit suspicious.

I think three is a more than a bit suspicious. Yet, not knowing when the last time three telcom cables were cut in less than 24 hours, it's outside my realm of expertise...

[NeedleCast]

45. I don't know if its EVER happened

and I'm still not very suspicious. What's to be gained from doing it?

[kitkat65]

15. Verizon and AT&T are two of the companies involved with illegal spying, yes?

How often do cables become compromised/damaged anyway?

If it happens a lot, then I guess it's no big deal.

[JBoy]

26. Maybe they cut the undersea cables to buy time while they reconnect everything

throught the NSA spying room in San Francisco.

"Oh look, you're up and running again!"

[TomClash]

20. Gee ya think its psy-ops?

We have been conducting "activities" in Iran for several years. What's a few underground sea cables?

[zorahopkins]

24. I'm Supposed To Email Some Information To Nigeria

I'm supposed to email some information about myself and my bank account to Nigeria later this afternoon.

It seems a relative of mine (I didn't even know I had a relative in Nigeria) died in a car accident recently, and he had lots of money in a bank account in Nigeria.

Some kind soul emailed me recently and said that I could get most of the money if I would just email him my bank account routing number, etc.

I hope the disruption in Iran will not affect my ability to email my information to Nigeria.

I need the money.

[Angela Shelley]

28. They only need your birthdate, SSN and your bank account number

you lucky dog, you!

That good Karma is finally paying off.

[zorahopkins]

56. I Know!

You are not quite correct.

In addition to my birthdate, social security number, and bank account number, he also need my bank routing number.

I hope my email will go through.

Millions -- MILLIONS -- of dollars are at stake here!!

[windbreeze]

68. I just have to say this....

I certainly hope you know what you're doing....don't be giving anyone that information...especially in Nigeria...seems to me I know someone who fell for one of these Nigerian scams to the tune of $5,000....oh, by the way..I mean, it cost him $5,000....sounds to me as though you are being set up...make sure you make sure...wb

[sabbat hunter]

30. it is more than just Iran

it is egypt, iraq, saudi arabia, India as well.

[Lone_Star_Dem]

31. It's a technical support outsourcing nightmare.

The person I was dealing with via email on a technical issue hasn't responded back and I've tired calling HP just to get put on hold for almost 45 minutes when I finally gave up.

[Angela Shelley]

33. Uh Oh, big time ...

[SoCalDem]

49. Yup.. That was my first thought too.. serves 'em right.. n/t

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

39. If so, who's the most likely culprit?

I can see several agents that would prefer this situation. Inside and out.

[fascisthunter]

40. Would the Neo-cons in Our Government Do Such a Thing?

....

[Roland99]

41. Repaired with new taps in place?

[NeedleCast]

44. *Sigh*

It's this kinda shit that makes it so easy to mock the left.

Yeah, tapping an international undersea cable that we already have access to on land is a GREAT plan! It's not like this is some sort of private Iranian military undersea cable. It's a trans-atlantic information cable that carries all sorts of information and effects far more countries than Iran.

Putting "taps" on this sort of fiber-optic you garner you 99.99999% useless information and would require nearly an unlimited amount of resources to monitor.

[Roland99]

51. I know that...I guess I should start putting :sarcasm: on almost every post of mine.

I thought that was understood.

[NeedleCast]

53. Apologies to you

Didn't see the sarcasm. My bad!

[Roland99]

54. Ah, no worries. I guess with paranoia and conspiracy buffs all over, ya can't tell sometimes.

[conscious evolution]

61. The US has been taping undersea

cables for decades.
It is a lot easier then you think.There is equipment that does not have to have physical contact with the cables to tap into the signals.
The submarine USS Jimmy Carter is constructed with this type of mission in mind.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Jimmy_Carter

Carter is roughly 100 feet (30 m) longer than the other two ships of her class. This is due to the insertion of a section known as the Multi-Mission Platform (MMP), which allows launch and recovery of ROVs and Navy SEAL forces. The plug features a fairing over a wasp-waist shaped passageway allowing crew to pass between the fore and aft sections of the hull while providing a space to store ROVs and special equipment that may need to launch and recover from the submarine. The MMP may also be used as an underwater splicing chamber for tapping of undersea fiber optic cables. This role was formerly filled by the decommissioned USS Parche (SSN-683).

Three cables in a couple of days makes me go what the fuck.

[NeedleCast]

67. That's my point

You said: There is equipment that does not have to have physical contact with the cables to tap into the signals.

If we can do this, why the fuck would we cut the cables, eh?

Christ.

You understand what information trans-atlantic cables carry, yes? Phone calls, E-mail between Bob and Jim. This is not some sort of Iranian intelligence network.

[Canuckistanian]

50. If this is such a common occurrence, how many times has this happened before?

How many submarine telecom cables are cut, on average, every year?

[arcos]

63. I don't know about the Middle East...

But there are two cables that connect my country... the Maya I Cable and the Arcos I Cable.

Last year the Maya cable was cut at least twice, and the Arcos cable was cut once. As I posted before, last time it was a real mess because both were out at the same time, leaving lots of countries in the Caribbean with pretty shitty internet service for about 3 days. It is really common, believe it or not.

Edited to post link:
http://www.itbusinessedge.com/blogs/hdw/?p=399

[arcos]

57. It happens all the time...

A few months ago the two cables that connect most of Latin America got broken, one near Nicaragua and the other near Panamá. That left basically everyone on the Caribbean, to the south and east of Honduras, with a pretty spotty internet connection, and having to use slow and expensive satellite backup.

[Deja Q]

58. OMG, rational and cool-headed dialogue!

:scared:

[arcos]

64. LOL!

Sometimes DU is amazing, isn't it? :)

[malaise]

59. India and Pakistan

are also cut off.

[daleo]

62. This is a test, this is only a test

Do not be alarmed. Nothing can go rwong.

[mogster]

65. Is this a response to the 'cyber-attacks' agaist the US lately?

http://www.informationweek.com/story/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=205901631&cid=RSSfeed_IWK_All

CIA Admits Cyberattacks Blacked Out Cities

The disclosure was made at a New Orleans security conference Friday attended by international government officials, engineers, and security managers.
The CIA on Friday admitted that cyberattacks have caused at least one power outage affecting multiple cities outside the United States.

Alan Paller, director of research at the SANS Institute, said that CIA senior analyst Tom Donahue confirmed that online attackers had caused at least one blackout. The disclosure was made at a New Orleans security conference Friday attended by international government officials, engineers, and security managers from North American energy companies and utilities.

Paller said that Donahue presented him with a written statement that read, "We have information, from multiple regions outside the United States, of cyber intrusions into utilities, followed by extortion demands. We suspect, but cannot confirm, that some of these attackers had the benefit of inside knowledge. We have information that cyberattacks have been used to disrupt power equipment in several regions outside the United States. In at least one case, the disruption caused a power outage affecting multiple cities. We do not know who executed these attacks or why, but all involved intrusions through the Internet."

More:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/01/25/AR2008012503261_pf.html

Bush Order Expands Network Monitoring
Intelligence Agencies to Track Intrusions

President Bush signed a directive this month that expands the intelligence community's role in monitoring Internet traffic to protect against a rising number of attacks on federal agencies' computer systems.

The directive, whose content is classified, authorizes the intelligence agencies, in particular the National Security Agency, to monitor the computer networks of all federal agencies -- including ones they have not previously monitored.

Until now, the government's efforts to protect itself from cyber-attacks -- which run the gamut from hackers to organized crime to foreign governments trying to steal sensitive data -- have been piecemeal. Under the new initiative, a task force headed by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) will coordinate efforts to identify the source of cyber-attacks against government computer systems. As part of that effort, the Department of Homeland Security will work to protect the systems and the Pentagon will devise strategies for counterattacks against the intruders.

This can't be a coincidence, with three cables cut. But what will they gain from cutting them? Is this some kind of operation where the 'service people' doing cable maintenance will install listening devices on the main ME internet line, perhaps? ;-)

[burgundy floppy hat]

76. it's a troll, at the level of Bush...

lime green, reminds me of mold, or a jello mold, with oreo's and cool whip...

I'm sure the Iranians and the Russians are surprised.