Unprecedented malicious actions on France’s national fiber-optic network have caused delays and interruptions in internet access, mainly in large cities in the east of the country.
“Such incidents of this magnitude have never happened before,” a source close to the case told AFP. “This is the first time and we do not know who it is, for the time being,” he said, adding that surveillance mechanisms had been set up.
“Cable cutting confirmed in Ile-de-France”, Paris region, “affecting fixed and mobile network”, wrote in a tweet the Undersecretary of Digital Policy Cedric O.
The Zone ADSL website recorded 9,156 fixed internet crashes in the last 24 hours, mainly affecting Free’s customers and to a lesser extent SFR customers.
According to Free, which announced that it has mobilized its crews and hopes that in a recovery during the day, the attacks took place today at 04:00 local time.
“Three of Free’s four arteries, called the ‘trunk’ and the ‘backbone of their network, have been vandalized,'” other sources said.
The “trunk” connects the internet traffic between different geographical zones thanks to very high speed fibers.
Another provider, SFR, reported “multiple fiber cuts” around Lyon (center-east) and Ile-de-France, confirming the vandalism scenario.
According to the first findings, inter-regional fiber optic cables passing through motorways as well as rail and waterway lines were deliberately cut at several points, mainly at the Paris-Lyon and Paris-Strasbourg (east) junctions.
“This is an act of digital terrorism? Maybe there was a big impact because the coordination of the cable attacks was very good, from people who undoubtedly know the network,” Nicolas Guillaume, who runs the alternative provider for professional Netalis, told AFP. .
Netalis, which is expected to file a lawsuit, suffered “either very severe delays (traffic) or infrequent service breaks of just over two hours” in an area in eastern France.
By contrast, Bouygues Telecom provider “which does not use the connections affected by these malfunctions” was not affected, as was the French telecommunications giant Orange, the two companies said.
In March 2020, telecommunications cables were deliberately cut near Paris, temporarily depriving Internet tens of thousands of Orange subscribers while disrupting data centers.
A case has been filed and an investigation has been launched, but one of the parties told AFP today that “there is no news from the authorities” on the matter.
SOURCE: AMPE
Source: Capital
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