In an attack on a major hub, a fiber optic cable was cut in France, powerfully slowing down international data traffic. The attack on fiber optic cables occurred near Marseille and is not the first this year.
- Fiber is getting faster: Vodafone cable network: expansion to up to 3 Gbit/s decided
Attack on fiber optic cable in France
Near the French metropolis of Marseille, unknown persons have cut a fiber optic cable responsible for one of the most important nodes. As reported by heise.de magazine, citing the French network operator Free, the cable was deliberately cut in at least three places, causing noticeable disruptions to international data traffic.
The cable had already been repaired by the night of October 19. This is not the first attack on Internet lines that France has endured this year.
Via Twitter, the network operator speaks of an act of vandalism against its own infrastructure and shows pictures of the damaged cables. In the process, the perpetrators had deliberately opened the cable covers and cut the cable harnesses.
In the spring of 2022, cables belonging to the provider Free were also cut in the greater Paris area. At the time, four fiber optic lines were cut, but it was mainly domestic data traffic that was affected.
Now, the perpetrators mainly hit the international data highway. According to heise.de, millions of end customers are said to be affected by more or less severe restrictions on Internet or mobile services – in April, the Central Directorate of Criminal Investigation in Paris estimated the number of people affected at just under 300,000.
