Today, March 5, 2024, undersea cables that ensured the operation of telecommunications networks were damaged in the Red Sea. This has forced providers around the world to redirect up to a quarter of traffic between Asia, Europe and the Middle East, including Internet traffic.
The largest social networks were also disrupted due to damaged cables — Facebook, Instagram, X (formerly Twitter), as well as other platforms such as Google, Youtube, WhatsApp, Discord, Zoom, etc.
ICTV Facts has collected all the information currently available about the breakdown of intercontinental cables in the Red Sea.
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What is known about the damage to submarine cables in the Red Sea
The beginning of the disruptions became known from complaints from social network users that they were starting to “throw away” from their accounts without the ability to log back in, and in some social networks news feeds were not updated.
Later it became known that submarine cables in the Red Sea were damaged.
Intercontinental submarine cables are the means by which Internet traffic is transmitted. Many of these cables have been funded in recent years by Internet giants such as Google, Microsoft, Amazon and Facebook, Meta's parent company.
CNN notes that damage to these underwater networks could lead to widespread internet blackouts, as happened after the 2006 Taiwan earthquake.
The accident in the Red Sea was reported by telecommunications company HGC Global Communications, which said that submarine cables were “cut”, resulting in “significant” disruptions in communication networks in the Middle East.
These cables belong to four major telecommunications networks.
According to HGC, about 25% of traffic between Asia and Europe, as well as the Middle East, was affected.
The company notes that traffic was rerouted to minimize disruption to customers. Assistance is also being provided to affected businesses.
In turn, the South African company Seacom, which owns one of the affected cable systems, told CNN that repair work will not begin for at least another month, including due to the long time required to obtain work permits in this area.
Among other affected networks — Asia-Africa-Europe 1, a 25 thousand km cable system connecting Southeast Asia with Europe via Egypt.
Tata Communications, the Indian telecom company that operates the TGN cable, confirmed to The Associated Press that its cable was damaged near Yemen and some services were cut off or diverted (the company did not respond to Forbes' request for comment).
CNN also writes that the Europe India Gateway (EIG) network was damaged. EIG connects Europe, the Middle East and India. The EIG cable was built by a consortium of investors including US telecom giants AT&T and Verizon, but as of Monday neither company had confirmed whether their services were affected.
Most large telecommunications companies rely on multiple submarine cable systems, which allows them to reroute traffic in the event of failures, ensuring uninterrupted service.
According to a study published by the US Department of Homeland Security in 2017, 97% of all intercontinental electronic communications are carried out using submarine fiber-optic cables laid under the world's oceans.
The same study provides a clear example of how vital these cables are in the Middle East. After three divers deliberately tried to cut an undersea cable near Alexandria in 2013, Internet speeds in Egypt dropped by about 60%.
How long will the Internet problems last
According to the Downdetector portal, which tracks communication problems among various Internet companies, the peak of system failures lasted from 17:06 to almost 19:00 on March 5. However, problems for individual companies, such as Microsoft or OpenAI, continue to this day.
So, Andy Stone, representative of Meta — parent company of social networks Facebook and Instagram — confirmed problems with the specified portals. According to him, work is already underway to eliminate the problems. However, Meta did not report the causes of the problems.
As cybersecurity expert Konstantin Korsun stated in a commentary to ICTV Facts, Internet users from Ukraine should not worry about long-term problems due to cable cutting, since in the global Internet there is no single center on which communication with the network depends. At the same time, Internet traffic flows will be redirected to the affected regions of the planet from cutting cables, which will have a minimal impact, for example, on Ukrainian users.
As an example, Korsun gave an analogy with a spider with 100 legs, which will distribute the load of its body if it is deprived of several legs.
— There are many of these cables and they are balanced. For example, in one place they cut (the cable, — Ed.), it is redistributed to another place. One cut cable in one place — Red Sea — First of all, it should have affected Africa and Asia. This is a huge system, like a spider with a hundred legs. One (paw, — Red.) was killed, two were killed, three. This is unpleasant, harmful and painful, but not critical, — he says.
At the same time, the cable repair itself can last several months. Thus, Seacom chief digital technology officer Prenesh Padayachee said that obtaining permits from the Yemeni maritime department to repair cables could take up to eight weeks.
— Client traffic will be rerouted until we can repair the damaged cable — he said.
Who may be involved
At the moment, it is definitely unknown what exactly caused the interruption of communication in the operation of submarine intercontinental cables.
Meanwhile, reports of possible damage to cables in the Red Sea began circulating last week. At least the Israeli media Globes blamed the damage on the Houthis, who are attacking cargo ships in these waters in an attempt to support Hamas in the ongoing war in the Gaza Strip.
In turn, the Houthis strongly deny these accusations. In a press release issued last Tuesday, the Houthi-controlled government said it “is committed to protecting all undersea telecommunications cables and related services from any possible risks”, and also promised to provide facilities for ” 8220;repair and maintenance” cables.
As CNN notes, the destruction of the Red Sea cables comes weeks after the official Yemeni government warned of the possibility that Houthi rebels could target the cables. Iran-backed militants have already disrupted global supply chains by attacking commercial shipping in the critical waterway.
However, other observers note that the cables may have been damaged as a result of the recent sinking of the British cargo ship Rubymar, which was attacked by Houthi forces on February 18. The ship drifted for several days in the Red Sea, dragging its anchor along the seabed, where one or more cables could potentially snap, observers say.
Photo: Getty Images
A SEACOM spokesperson told the Wall Street Journal that it is “quite”that their cable was damaged by the Rubymar, which has since sunk, but the company has not yet confirmed this.
The International Cable Protection Committee, a UK-based non-governmental organization, said there are an average of 150 incidents each year that damage submarine cables, and most of them are caused by activities such as commercial fishing and anchoring of vessels.
Who are the Houthis
The Houthis (or Houthis) – is a paramilitary group from Yemen, which is located in the western part of the country.
The group was created in the 1990s and opposed the religious influence Saudi Arabia had in Yemen. They also opposed the then President of Yemen, Ali Abdullah Saleh.
The armed confrontation between the Houthis and Yemeni government forces began in June 2004, when Hussein al-Houthi, who, having proclaimed himself an imam, accused the Yemeni leadership of discrimination against the Zaydi population. He was killed in September 2004.
However, already in 2009, with the support of Saudi Arabian forces, the rebellion was suppressed. In 2010, a ceasefire agreement was signed between the Houthis and the Yemeni government.
Currently, the Houthis, who are financed in part by Iran, are supporting Hamas militants in their attempt to attack Israel. After the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) entered the Gaza Strip in southern Israel to suppress Hamas militants, the Houthis began attacking merchant ships in the Red Sea.
Learn more about who the Yemeni Houthis are and why the coalition from the US, UK and other countries began to strike their groups — read the material on Facts ICTV.
What could be the consequences
American media indicate that a large-scale failure occurred on the so-called Super Tuesday, the day when in most US states voting takes place as part of the primaries, that is, internal party elections where parties determine their candidates for US presidents.
It is currently unknown exactly how disruptions in social media or interruptions in communications via undersea cables could have affected the election process in the United States.
The outages also come just before big tech companies are required to comply with the European Union's new digital markets law on Thursday.
So, to comply with this law, Meta is making changes, such as allowing users to separate their Facebook and Instagram accounts so that personal information cannot be combined to target online advertising. It also remains unclear at this time whether the shutdown is related to any Meta preparations for DMA.
At the same time, cybersecurity expert Konstantin Korsun, in a commentary to ICTV Facts, said that serious consequences should not be expected. According to him, even if all submarine cables in the Red Sea are cut, Internet traffic will be redistributed through other cable networks.
According to him, in such a situation, traffic will be redistributed through other servers, which will increase their wear and tear and reduce the time until the next replacement of these servers.
— They (servers, — Ed.) will serve not three years, but two. They will need to be repaired, replaced, and so on. Accordingly, the ping will increase (delay time when transmitting packets on the Internet, — Ed.). That is (will change, — Ed.) speed for some users, — he explains.
The expert points out that in the event of a serious security problem in the Red Sea, the cables could be moved to bypass this region. This, according to him, will require additional funds, but “if it is profitable”, then it will be implemented, which will take “some time”, says Korsun.
