Anchors Aweigh! There Goes the Internet!
An accidental fiber-optic line break cut the Web to the Mideast and part of Asia
Feb. 5, 2008— -- It wasn't sabotage that cut a high-capacity fiber-optic line last week in the Mideast but the anchor of a ship forced to port by a powerful storm off the Egyptian coast, according to cybersecurity experts.
The cut, along with a series of other unrelated underwater mechanical failures, caused Internet service to be disrupted across the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, India, Pakistan and Bangladesh.
The problem was compounded because the line is underwater, making it more difficult to repair. It was also a so-called "fat pipe" with tremendous capacity. There were not enough nearby lines with adequate capacity to reroute the Internet traffic.
While this failure was accidental, Internet security experts point out that this underlines the vulnerability of single points of failure.
"If this is what happens during a series of coincidences, think what intentional activity could do," said ABC News consultant Dick Clarke. Clarke's recent novel, "Breakpoint," begins featuring what he says is a very plausible scenario, in which six fiber-optic lines running from Europe to New York are severed causing a breakdown of communication between the London and New York stock exchanges.
"This can be relatively easily done," warned Clarke.
Line breaks are not uncommon, according to Clarke. Lines are cut every day in the U.S. through accidental activity such as a backhoe cutting a landline. Usually, service can be rerouted through another line or provider so that no disruption in service occurs. There are, however, some vulnerable fat pipes where given a little research and malevolent motivation, enormous disruptions could occur through a few specific line cuts, according to cybersecurity experts.