The Northern California cable cuts seem to have been highly coordinated. It was also a very Al-Qaeda like approach to taking down communications - simple & coordinated - in the USA we tend to try to protect ourselves from very complex attacks but we sometimes leave the front door open. Hack the system? Instead why not just cut the wire?
@UisteanSisyphus: Yes, instantly attribute it to terrorist like activities. You might as well bring up God in this conversation and claim he did it because of gay marraige, abortion, and sexting.
Furthermore, how is this "very Al-Queda like approach to taking down communications"? Are you personally intimate with the Al-Queda playbook of espionage? Where were you when this took place? Can anyone else attribute to your whereabouts at that time? Were you parents religious? Are you Muslim, or have you ever been affiliated with radical extremists or been a part of an anti-capitalist movement?
Now if you'll please bend over and spread your cheeks. I must be thorough in my investigation...
Maybe they should think about putting cables essential to national security someplace OTHER than in a manhole anyone can enter without tools, anywhere, and perhaps run the signals on something OTHER than a fibre that can be cut with a pair of cutters from a dollar store.
It's one thing to build essential and vital national networks and rely on them for E991 and other important things, but if you don't DO anything to protect them, then that's really your own fault. Whining about how somebody cut the wire is like somebody who leaves $100 bills on their front lawn and then complains when passersby make off the the money.
And what about signal redundancy? Why can't they route around cuts? ATT's version of redundancy is to run the backup cable in the same path as the primary. So one cut from a backhoe takes out BOTH of them. It's frakking brilliant.
@radarskiy: Chuck Norris' hands are considered deadly weapons - tools to end life in horrific and painful ways. I'm sure he could have uncovered that manhole by.........
Hm. Funny that it happened near San Jose and wiped out a large portion of the SF Bay area...AND it happened during a contract negotiation for AT&T and its employees...
And it's funny that the cables are just a few miles from San Ramon, where the former Pacific Bell/SBC California headquarters used to be, AND that it happened to be down in a manhole, which required tools to enter.
This had to have been done by someone who has knowledge of the networks. I mean, how many average Joes know where the network cables run, that it was underground, AND that cutting that specific cable would cause a loss of signal?
@bosskev: I wasn't sure I had read your first comment correctly, but I see I wasn't mistaken, in which case yours was just as good. Good thing hearting you for it earlier was worth it.
@spannu: What was REALLY weird was that I had typed and attempted to submit my "deja vu" comment THREE SEPARATE TIMES and, for whatever unknown reasons, it never went through. I ended up having to launch a different browser for it to finally submit on its fourth attempt. Talk about experiencing deja vu...!
@bosskev: .....That Godzilla is back and we're going to get another horrible remake about him 'accidentally' terrorizing the Capitalist Pig's data lines?
@Lite: does not like fishsticks...: well, are you referencing the troll, that this is the third iteration of this post, the cutting of cables in the middle east, or did you see that cat walk by the door twice too?
"...their importance to the national security," and tampering with them is both a state and federal crime."
I wonder if the FBI could be called in on this? It would be nice to see that level of investigation applied, not only to find/convict the perpetrators but to send a signal that this "new" kind of vandalism--and, by having interrupted 911 services, terrorism--will not be tolerated.
@pettiblay: Plain old vandals, probably not. But I'm thinking that, given the apparent Federal definition that these communication lines are "important to the national security" (this phrasing quoted from an extensive part of this story that was initially posted by the Giz writer and then, just minutes later, deleted inexplicably), this could/should be interpreted as a form of terrorism. Remember, it wasn't just a loss of internet, it was a loss of the entire communications infrastructure across a wide geographic region. The failure included loss of all 911 emergency communications.
Indeed, if our nation's communications cables are that easily accessed/destroyed, I'd feel better if this entire issue was elevated in priority in the longterm.
@bosskev: Yeah, I'd assume the FBI would have interest if it turned out to be more than just vandals. After they confirm who did it, of course, they'd turn it back over to the local and state authorities.
@spannu: "After they confirm who did it, of course, they'd turn it back over to the local and state authorities."
Well, does the "who" really matter, at least from the standpoint of whether or not this act is defined as an act of terrorism? I mean, terrorists are not necessarily foreign agents as, sadly, we have learned. Breaching national security would seem to me to be the more relevant factor.
@The Illuminator: Umm...you have about 10 seconds to explain your joke--if there is any kind of weak attempt at humor here--for this ridiculous, banworthy entry.
And it's odd that they think a hit to AT&T is a national security threat. Because almost nobody I know HAS AT&T in the first place. (Seeing as it's ridiculously overpriced, has crappy service, and is extremely restrictive.)
I work in a Wide Area Network Operations center and i will tel you this fiber cut was a pain in the ass today. Thousands of customers ranging from 9-11 services to Gas stations were affected.
Sadly fiber cuts are common but not usually this catastrophic.
The point is, why aren't these systems self healing? Are they even IP routed?
Ideally, something like an IP network should be able to detect if a link is down and route around it. It will make traffic slower, sure, but it will still *work*.
What's really criminal is having a system which has single or even double points of failure. It has been repeatedly demonstrated that triple redundancy is necessary.
it does still work, but when you cut off fiber and replace it with whatever else there is, which is already taxed pretty hard, the slowdown crawls to 1994ish speeds, which is, in the modern age, about half a split hair away from being nonexistent.
@philibuster: Apparently you missed the part where they cut the primary and backup route...
Similar thing happened to Sprint once in Phoenix, AZ when they took the primary route down for maintenance and then had a cable cut on the backup route the next day...
04/11/09
A bit scary
04/11/09
Furthermore, how is this "very Al-Queda like approach to taking down communications"? Are you personally intimate with the Al-Queda playbook of espionage? Where were you when this took place? Can anyone else attribute to your whereabouts at that time? Were you parents religious? Are you Muslim, or have you ever been affiliated with radical extremists or been a part of an anti-capitalist movement?
Now if you'll please bend over and spread your cheeks. I must be thorough in my investigation...
04/11/09
It's one thing to build essential and vital national networks and rely on them for E991 and other important things, but if you don't DO anything to protect them, then that's really your own fault. Whining about how somebody cut the wire is like somebody who leaves $100 bills on their front lawn and then complains when passersby make off the the money.
And what about signal redundancy? Why can't they route around cuts? ATT's version of redundancy is to run the backup cable in the same path as the primary. So one cut from a backhoe takes out BOTH of them. It's frakking brilliant.
04/11/09
04/11/09
04/11/09
And it's funny that the cables are just a few miles from San Ramon, where the former Pacific Bell/SBC California headquarters used to be, AND that it happened to be down in a manhole, which required tools to enter.
This had to have been done by someone who has knowledge of the networks. I mean, how many average Joes know where the network cables run, that it was underground, AND that cutting that specific cable would cause a loss of signal?
04/11/09
04/11/09
*takes back extra u
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04/11/09
Doesn't that count for anything?
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Doesn't that count for anything?
04/11/09
04/11/09
I wonder if the FBI could be called in on this? It would be nice to see that level of investigation applied, not only to find/convict the perpetrators but to send a signal that this "new" kind of vandalism--and, by having interrupted 911 services, terrorism--will not be tolerated.
04/11/09
04/11/09
Indeed, if our nation's communications cables are that easily accessed/destroyed, I'd feel better if this entire issue was elevated in priority in the longterm.
04/11/09
04/11/09
Well, does the "who" really matter, at least from the standpoint of whether or not this act is defined as an act of terrorism? I mean, terrorists are not necessarily foreign agents as, sadly, we have learned. Breaching national security would seem to me to be the more relevant factor.
04/11/09
The FBI has been called in, since they cut access to 911 emergency lines it is a federal crime.
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04/11/09
Verbot!
04/09/09
04/09/09
And it's odd that they think a hit to AT&T is a national security threat. Because almost nobody I know HAS AT&T in the first place. (Seeing as it's ridiculously overpriced, has crappy service, and is extremely restrictive.)
04/09/09
04/10/09
04/10/09
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04/09/09
Sadly fiber cuts are common but not usually this catastrophic.
04/09/09
the most common cause?
gas powered cable locaters (aka post holers and augers)
04/09/09
04/10/09
I don't envy the tech that has to organize the retransmission when their servers re-establish contact.
04/09/09
Ideally, something like an IP network should be able to detect if a link is down and route around it. It will make traffic slower, sure, but it will still *work*.
What's really criminal is having a system which has single or even double points of failure. It has been repeatedly demonstrated that triple redundancy is necessary.
04/09/09
it does still work, but when you cut off fiber and replace it with whatever else there is, which is already taxed pretty hard, the slowdown crawls to 1994ish speeds, which is, in the modern age, about half a split hair away from being nonexistent.
04/09/09
04/09/09
04/09/09
Similar thing happened to Sprint once in Phoenix, AZ when they took the primary route down for maintenance and then had a cable cut on the backup route the next day...