French police probe multiple cuts of major internet cables - The San Diego Union-Tribune

PARIS — 

French constabulary said Friday they’re investigating aggregate cuts to fiber-optic cables successful France’s second-largest city. Operators said the cables nexus Marseille to different cities successful France and Europe and that net and telephone services were severely disrupted.

The disruptions successful the confederate French metropolis were a sensation of what analysts pass could beryllium acold larger problems successful different cases if cables are systematically attacked. The vulnerability of fiber-optic cables, particularly those underwater, and different cardinal infrastructure has been highlighted by the sabotage past month successful the Baltic Sea of earthy state pipelines from Russia.

French cablegram relation and net work supplier Free said its repair teams were mobilized earlier dawn Wednesday to woody with “an enactment of vandalism connected our fibre infrastructure.”

It said the attacks were simultaneous and connected aggregate spots of its fibre web adjacent Marseille. Photos that Free published connected Twitter showed aggregate cables wholly severed successful their factual housings buried successful the ground. It said the cuts led to large disruptions to its web and telephone services successful the Marseille area.

A spokeswoman for Marseille constabulary confirmed Friday to The Associated Press that its officers and section gendarmes are investigating aggregate breakages to cables connected the city’s outskirts.

Cybersecurity institution Zscaler said the severed cables nexus Marseille to Milan, Barcelona and the French metropolis of Lyon. It said the cuts “impacted large cables with connectivity to Asia, Europe, (the) U.S. and perchance different parts of the world.”

The harm besides slowed immoderate web postulation from Europe to India, institution CEO Jay Chaudhry said.

“Since Zscaler controls the network, we were capable to re-route the postulation and mitigate the contented for our planetary users,” helium posted.