Number five just went down today.
Read here: Khaleej Times
Cable damage hits 1.7m Internet users in UAEAnd here: Schneier on Security
An estimated 1.7 million Internet users in the UAE have been affected by the recent undersea cable damage, an expert said yesterday, quoting recent figures published by TeleGeography, an international research Web site.
Internet data was majorly affected as it is the biggest capacity carried by the undersea cables.
However, all voice calls, corporate data and video traffic were also affected.
Fourth Undersea Cable Failure in Middle EastIt will be interesting to see if the real story ever percolates to the surface. Almost time to start wearing an AFDB
The first two affected India, Pakistan, Egypt, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, and Bahrain. The third one is between the UAE and Oman. The fourth one connected Qatar and the UAE. This one may not have been cut, but taken offline due to power issues.
The first three have been blamed on ships' anchors, but there is some dispute about that. And that's two in the Mediterranean and two in the Persian Gulf.
There have been no official reports of malice to me, but it's an awfully big coincidence. The fact that Iran has lost Internet connectivity only makes this weirder.
EDITED TO ADD (2/5): The International Herald Tribune has more. And a comment below questions whether Iran being offline has anything to do with this.
EDITED TO ADD (2/5): A fifth cut? What the hell is going on out there?
