Cloud security company Zscaler reports that an internet cable was cut north of Marseille on Wednesday evening, disrupting no fewer than three undersea connections. It would be one of the world’s largest internet hubs.
From Marseille, connections with Lyon, Milan and Barcelona were cut, bringing the company worldwide packet loss (decreased functioning of the internet, ed.) and delays detected at customers, within Europe but also to Asia, the United States and elsewhere in the world.
Redirecting the internet connection helped mitigate some of the impact on global internet traffic. Repairmen, on the other hand, were unable to directly access the cable break because the local police were still investigating the incident. On Thursday afternoon, any nuisance caused by the cable break was resolved. Zscaler’s CEO calls the incident on LinkedIn “vandalism” and a “man-made disaster” due to its global impact on internet traffic.
Roughly half a day later, a second incident involving internet cables took place. To the north of Scotland, internet connection to the Shetland Islands was disrupted by a broken undersea internet cable, British broadcaster BBC said.
As a result, emergency services from the archipelago were temporarily barely accessible and internet traffic to the mainland was disrupted.
The simultaneity of the two incidents and the similarities with the previous sabotage of the Nord Stream pipelines quickly led to speculation that Russian submarines may have sabotaged the Internet cables. However, the Marseille incident took place on the mainland.
According to the BBC, the incident off the Shetland Islands was also the result of a collision with a fishing boat. A boat would have damaged the internet cable in question several times. The authorities are investigating the incident.
Zscaler himself has not yet given any indication that it is politically motivated sabotage.