What is goin on? Third undersea Internet cable cut in Mideast

[LiberalArkie]

I can't remember something like this happening before. Any ideas?

<http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/meast/02/01/internet.outage/index.html>
<http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/third-undersea-cable-reportedly-cut/story.aspx?guid=%7B1AAB2A79-E983-4E0E-BC39-68A120DC16D9%7D}[br />
Slashdot reports that Iran is isolated
<http://hardware.slashdot.org/article.pl?no_d2=1&sid=08/02/01/1912220>

[Iwasthere]

1. This is NOT just a coincidence

Something is up... mark my words

[LiberalArkie]

2. yea, I am in telecom, and this is weird

[nadinbrzezinski]

6. Of course something's up

and I wonder how long until the six base servers (otherwise known as root servers) start failing

[OhioChick]

23. No, It's Not.

I Hear the Faint Sound of War Drums.

[L. Coyote]

3. Two cables were torn by a ship anchor near Alexandria, Egypt. Anything else?

Apparently, an anchor was dragging along the bottom, breaking two cables several hours apart.

[tekisui]

7. The OP mentions a third one, as they are repairing the first two.

[lurky]

8. Another one was cut off the coast of Dubai.

1000 miles away, in a totally different body of water. Draw your own conclusions.

[tekisui]

4. Thing is-- With them cutting access, we'll never know what we don't know.

Or, they'll never know what they don't know.

Could it be to restrict info in or out?

With tinfoil on, Pakistan is getting very strange. Mystery deaths, New US military base on the Afghan border. A number 3 Al-Qaeda killed by a predator drone. The tinderbox is close to sparking.

[islandmkl]

5. don't worry...in the words of an administration go-fer

'This stuff happens all the time, just not very often.'

[lurky]

10. Is Yogi Berra working in the White House now?

:rofl:

[LiberalArkie]

9. Slashdot reports that Iran is isolated

<http://hardware.slashdot.org/article.pl?no_d2=1&sid=08/02/01/1912220>

[redqueen]

11. Ah fucksake...

[tekisui]

12. That's wild to think about.

[OnceUponTimeOnTheNet]

14. Third times the charm.

Where's my tin foil? :tinfoilhat:

[CGowen]

16. the website of the president works

http://president.ir/fa/

IP is according to http://www.ip2location.com/free.asp

80.191.69.11 IR IRAN, ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF TEHRAN TEHRAN PRESIDENTIAL OFFICE COMPUTER DEPT






Maybe it's cached by something like akamai, I'm no expert, or nothing is wrong with Iran.

[havocmom]

17. Oh fuck

Now that would explain why bush is so uninterested in the campaigns.

[WritersBlock]

18. oh man, I don't like this at all....

I hope I'm over-reacting.

[formercia]

46. Via Fort Meade

http://hardware.slashdot.org/article.pl?no_d2=1&sid=08/02/01/1912220


by Bent Mind (853241) on Friday February 01, @03:41PM (#22266310)

So, a "Flag official, who declined to be named" reports that a major portion of the Gulf region's communications are being rerouted through the US and UK.

It's probably not as fishy as it sounds. I seem to recall a major portion of all Internet traffic at least passes through the US. However, it does make you wonder.

[TreasonousBastard]

13. We finally found a use for all those submarines.

[DJ13]

15. Might this be a move by Israel just prior to a strike on Iran?

[OnceUponTimeOnTheNet]

19. That would be good strategic thinking on Israels behalf.

If this is what this is about. Really, taking out the communications would be the first thing to go for.

[Zynx]

48. I was waiting for the big, bad Israeli conspiracy post to pop up.

[OhioChick]

20. Imagine That!

[hedda_foil]

21. Could those cables also carry Iran's military command and control data?

Could the cutting of these cables bring Iran's military communications channels to a standstill and cripple their defensive capabilities if Israel launches a strike?

[LiberalArkie]

27. Nah, it does not affect internal just external communications.

[Pavulon]

31. This is internet cable.

It may be phone too but the satellites and point to point would be used.

[fenriswolf]

22. fffuuuccckkkkk

No coincedance. No media reporting on it. A country under growing multi national agression. Time is running short for this administration. The dominoes are in place. Martial law just waiting to be declared.

[havocmom]

28. Story already scrubbed from one of OP's links

Market watch link = "Story Not Found

The story you requested could not be found."

shit. not looking good for peace in our time.

[redqueen]

34. Not encouraging.

A friend in Ireland is telling me not to worry.

I'm trying...

[Psyop Samurai]

39. Here's the corrected MarketWatch link...

http://tinyurl.com/yvt5ds

:cheers:

[havocmom]

40. Thank you

:thumbsup:

[moodforaday]

45. CNN has a report

CNN has a report, but they don't mention Iran at all:
http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/meast/02/01/internet.outage/index.html

[Lisa0825]

24. Cutting off communication is a common strategy...

whether the threat is from outside or within.

[LiberalArkie]

25. And might I add, and isn't something big on TV this weekend?

[tekisui]

35. How long would it take to repair something like this?

If something were to occur, how much time do they have?

[FogerRox]

44. If its fiber.... & underwater... it'll be a while

[backscatter712]

50. Probably weeks.

I'm assuming we're talking about waters that are decently deep.

They'll have to send a ship out, send down divers to find the cable ends, hook them to winches on the ship, so they can be pulled to the surface so a patch cable can be spliced in.

[newmajority]

38. And then there's that other big distraction on Tuesday

Theoretically, they could level Tehran on Monday and it would be Thursday before any media in this country even reported it.

[mogster]

26. This may be caused by the much touted 'cyber attacks'

Read this post:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=2803811&mesg_id=2805317

[LiberalArkie]

29. cyber attackers cutting undersea cables, I kind of doubt it.

[OhioChick]

30. Agreed. n/t

[mogster]

32. Read the post

It does not imply that the cyber-attackers cut the cables, but the other way around. The cyber attacks caused the cables to be cut - in response ;-)

[redqueen]

33. Cut off an entire country

to thwart a group of rogues?

And they'll just fix the cables anyway, so... ?

[mogster]

36. The traffic will in the mean time be re-routed

Different routers, new opportunities ;-)

From the BBC article:
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 two cable cuts meant that the only cable in service connecting Europe to the Middle East via Egypt was the older Sea-M-We 3 system, according to research firm TeleGeography.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7222536.stm

The re-routing happens immediately:
India reported serious disruptions to its services, with Rajesh Chharia, the head of an internet-service providers' body, saying: "There has been a 50 to 60 per cent cut in bandwidth."

He said a "degraded" service would be up and running by Wednesday night, but full restoration would take 10 to 15 days.

"The big operators have transferred their small broadband connectivity through the Pacific route, and that's the reason there's no hue and cry in the country," he said.
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/F9FE6553-D2E1-4325-B243-83D47A9C3809.htm

[redqueen]

37. I sure do hope you're right.

Thanks... I'm just going to leave on that note.

[Extend a Hand]

41. Iran's oil bourse was supposed to open between 2/1-2/11

http://www.tehrantimes.com/Index_view.asp?code=160651

I wonder if this has anything to do with these outages??

[Mind_your_head]

42. There is a saying (in science and statistics)

Once is an incident
Twice is a coincidence
Three times is a pattern

[KoKo]

49. Good point...

[CK_John]

43. To me this is aimed at Egypt to close the Gaza border or get cut off. n/t

[L0oniX]

47. I automatically think it's the US Gov doing it ...covertly.