Border Collie
Deceased
Original (with video):
http://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2015/06/30/california-internet-outage/29521335/
The FBI is investigating string of attacks against the Internet backbone in California, including one early Tuesday morning. Trevor Hughes/USA TODAY
The FBI is investigating at least 11 physical attacks on high-capacity Internet cables in California's San Francisco Bay Area dating back a year, including one early Tuesday morning.
Agents confirm the latest attack disrupted Internet service for businesses and residential customers in and around Sacramento, the state's capital.
FBI agents declined to specify how significantly the attack affected customers, citing the ongoing investigation. In Tuesday's attack, someone broke into an underground vault and cut three fiber-optic cables belonging to Colorado-based service providers Level 3 and Zayo.
The attacks date back to at least July 6, 2014, said FBI Special Agent Greg Wuthrich.
"When it affects multiple companies and cities, it does become disturbing," Wuthrich said. "We definitely need the public's assistance."
The pattern of attacks raises serious questions about the glaring vulnerability of critical Internet infrastructure, said JJ Thompson, CEO of Rook Security, a security consulting and services provider in Indianapolis.
Fiber-optic cables are essentially bundles of slender glass fibers that use light waves to transmit data. They are the interstate highways of the information superhighway, carrying vast amounts of data between decentralized hubs. From there, Internet services are delivered to homes and businesses by lower-capacity cables, including DSL.
In Arizona earlier this year, tens of thousands of residents were cut off from Internet service after someone sliced through underground fiber-optic cables.
In April 2009, underground fiber-optic cables in California were cut at four sites, knocking out landlines, cell phones and Internet service for tens of thousands in Santa Clara, Santa Cruz and San Benito counties.
"When it's situations that are scattered all in one geography, that raises the possibility that they are testing out capabilities, response times and impact," Thompson said. "That is a security person's nightmare."
Wuthrich said cutting the lines requires tools. Although fiber-optic lines themselves aren't much bigger than diameter of a pencil, they're usually protected by tough, flexible conduit. Citing the ongoing investigation, he declined to further discuss specifics of the attacks, which he said have generally occurred in remote areas not monitored by security cameras.
Mark Peterson, a spokesman for Internet provider Wave Broadband, said an unspecified number of Sacramento-area customers were knocked offline by the latest attack. He characterized the Tuesday attack as "coordinated" and said the company was working with Level 3 and Zayo to restore service.
Spokeswomen for Level 3 and Zayo confirmed the disruption but declined to discuss specifics.
"Law enforcement is involved and restoration crews are working to restore connectivity as quickly as possible," Zayo spokeswoman Shannon Paulk said via email.
Level 3 and Zayo are primarily business-to-business Internet providers, connecting local services like Wave to the broader Internet with their high-speed fiber-optic lines.
Safeguarding these lines "is a massive challenge for municipalities, governments and Corporate America to deal with," Thompson said.
Fiber-optic cable lines are everywhere and are very visible, said Richard Doherty, research director of The Envisioneering Group, a technology assessment and market research firm.
"There are flags and signs indicating to somebody who wants to do damage: This is where it is folks," Doherty said. "You often have fiber from several companies sometimes going down the same street or the same trench. One attacker can dig one hole and wipe out service from three companies."
Backup systems help cushion consumers from the worst of the attacks, meaning people may notice slower email or videos not playing, but may not have service completely disrupted, he said.
But repairs are costly and penalties are not stiff enough to deter would-be vandals, Doherty said.
"It's a terrible social crime that affects thousands and millions of people," he said.
--------------------
reported:
http://www.shtfplan.com/conspiracy-...against-internet-lines-in-california_07022015
Copied: http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-...nst-internet-power-grid-lines-california-year
FBI Reveals 11 Attacks Against Internet Lines in California
Joshua Krause
July 2nd, 2015
The Daily Sheeple
Comments (39)
On Tuesday, someone broke into an underground vault in Sacramento, and cut several high-capacity internet cables. Nobody knows who this person is or why they did it, but since that time the FBI has revealed that it was not an isolated incident. They’ve been investigating 10 other recent attacks on the internet infrastructure of California, and they seem to be deeply troubled by the vulnerability of these cables.
A security professional who was interviewed for that article, also suggested something that should perk the ears of any American that hears it.
The article goes on to compare these incidents to similar attacks that happened in Arizona last year, as well as California in 2009. However, they may be missing the bigger picture. This whole situation reminds me of an article I wrote just over a year ago about several attacks that were carried out against the power grid, which again, occurred in California and Arizona (weird right?). This included the very unsettling attack against a power station in San Jose, which wasn’t revealed until 10 months after the fact, and to date, there has been no explanation for the incident.
It should be abundantly clear now that some organization out there is quietly coordinating small-scale attacks against America’s power grid and internet lines. In my previous article, I suggested that they’re probing our infrastructure for weaknesses, and gauging reaction times and security. I still think that may be the case.
It’s possible that these attacks are all unrelated, but it sure doesn’t look like it to me. I won’t suggest who may be doing it since it’s impossible to know for sure, but it definitely looks like there is an organized effort of some kind to disable the electricity and communications of Arizona and California. We probably won’t know who it is until they get around to a full-scale attack, which given the vulnerability of America’s power grid, may be absolutely devastating. If you have a hunch about who these people are, share it with our readers in the comments.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2015/06/30/california-internet-outage/29521335/
The FBI is investigating string of attacks against the Internet backbone in California, including one early Tuesday morning. Trevor Hughes/USA TODAY
The FBI is investigating at least 11 physical attacks on high-capacity Internet cables in California's San Francisco Bay Area dating back a year, including one early Tuesday morning.
Agents confirm the latest attack disrupted Internet service for businesses and residential customers in and around Sacramento, the state's capital.
FBI agents declined to specify how significantly the attack affected customers, citing the ongoing investigation. In Tuesday's attack, someone broke into an underground vault and cut three fiber-optic cables belonging to Colorado-based service providers Level 3 and Zayo.
The attacks date back to at least July 6, 2014, said FBI Special Agent Greg Wuthrich.
"When it affects multiple companies and cities, it does become disturbing," Wuthrich said. "We definitely need the public's assistance."
The pattern of attacks raises serious questions about the glaring vulnerability of critical Internet infrastructure, said JJ Thompson, CEO of Rook Security, a security consulting and services provider in Indianapolis.
Fiber-optic cables are essentially bundles of slender glass fibers that use light waves to transmit data. They are the interstate highways of the information superhighway, carrying vast amounts of data between decentralized hubs. From there, Internet services are delivered to homes and businesses by lower-capacity cables, including DSL.
In Arizona earlier this year, tens of thousands of residents were cut off from Internet service after someone sliced through underground fiber-optic cables.
In April 2009, underground fiber-optic cables in California were cut at four sites, knocking out landlines, cell phones and Internet service for tens of thousands in Santa Clara, Santa Cruz and San Benito counties.
"When it's situations that are scattered all in one geography, that raises the possibility that they are testing out capabilities, response times and impact," Thompson said. "That is a security person's nightmare."
Wuthrich said cutting the lines requires tools. Although fiber-optic lines themselves aren't much bigger than diameter of a pencil, they're usually protected by tough, flexible conduit. Citing the ongoing investigation, he declined to further discuss specifics of the attacks, which he said have generally occurred in remote areas not monitored by security cameras.
Mark Peterson, a spokesman for Internet provider Wave Broadband, said an unspecified number of Sacramento-area customers were knocked offline by the latest attack. He characterized the Tuesday attack as "coordinated" and said the company was working with Level 3 and Zayo to restore service.
Spokeswomen for Level 3 and Zayo confirmed the disruption but declined to discuss specifics.
"Law enforcement is involved and restoration crews are working to restore connectivity as quickly as possible," Zayo spokeswoman Shannon Paulk said via email.
Level 3 and Zayo are primarily business-to-business Internet providers, connecting local services like Wave to the broader Internet with their high-speed fiber-optic lines.
Safeguarding these lines "is a massive challenge for municipalities, governments and Corporate America to deal with," Thompson said.
Fiber-optic cable lines are everywhere and are very visible, said Richard Doherty, research director of The Envisioneering Group, a technology assessment and market research firm.
"There are flags and signs indicating to somebody who wants to do damage: This is where it is folks," Doherty said. "You often have fiber from several companies sometimes going down the same street or the same trench. One attacker can dig one hole and wipe out service from three companies."
Backup systems help cushion consumers from the worst of the attacks, meaning people may notice slower email or videos not playing, but may not have service completely disrupted, he said.
But repairs are costly and penalties are not stiff enough to deter would-be vandals, Doherty said.
"It's a terrible social crime that affects thousands and millions of people," he said.
--------------------
reported:
http://www.shtfplan.com/conspiracy-...against-internet-lines-in-california_07022015
Copied: http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-...nst-internet-power-grid-lines-california-year
FBI Reveals 11 Attacks Against Internet Lines in California
Joshua Krause
July 2nd, 2015
The Daily Sheeple
Comments (39)
On Tuesday, someone broke into an underground vault in Sacramento, and cut several high-capacity internet cables. Nobody knows who this person is or why they did it, but since that time the FBI has revealed that it was not an isolated incident. They’ve been investigating 10 other recent attacks on the internet infrastructure of California, and they seem to be deeply troubled by the vulnerability of these cables.
The FBI is investigating at least 11 physical attacks on high-capacity Internet cables in California’s San Francisco Bay Area dating back a year, including one early Tuesday morning.
Agents confirm the latest attack disrupted Internet service for businesses and residential customers in and around Sacramento, the state’s capital.
FBI agents declined to specify how significantly the attack affected customers, citing the ongoing investigation. In Tuesday’s attack, someone broke into an underground vault and cut three fiber-optic cables belonging to Colorado-based service providers Level 3 and Zayo.
The attacks date back to at least July 6, 2014, said FBI Special Agent Greg Wuthrich.
“When it affects multiple companies and cities, it does become disturbing,” Wuthrich said. “We definitely need the public’s assistance.”
Agents confirm the latest attack disrupted Internet service for businesses and residential customers in and around Sacramento, the state’s capital.
FBI agents declined to specify how significantly the attack affected customers, citing the ongoing investigation. In Tuesday’s attack, someone broke into an underground vault and cut three fiber-optic cables belonging to Colorado-based service providers Level 3 and Zayo.
The attacks date back to at least July 6, 2014, said FBI Special Agent Greg Wuthrich.
“When it affects multiple companies and cities, it does become disturbing,” Wuthrich said. “We definitely need the public’s assistance.”
A security professional who was interviewed for that article, also suggested something that should perk the ears of any American that hears it.
“When it’s situations that are scattered all in one geography, that raises the possibility that they are testing out capabilities, response times and impact,” Thompson said. “That is a security person’s nightmare.”
The article goes on to compare these incidents to similar attacks that happened in Arizona last year, as well as California in 2009. However, they may be missing the bigger picture. This whole situation reminds me of an article I wrote just over a year ago about several attacks that were carried out against the power grid, which again, occurred in California and Arizona (weird right?). This included the very unsettling attack against a power station in San Jose, which wasn’t revealed until 10 months after the fact, and to date, there has been no explanation for the incident.
Rather than a bomb, the San Jose attack turned out to be a frighteningly coordinated shooting. It’s estimated that 6 individuals approached the facility late at night armed with AK-47’s, and opened fire, but not before sneaking onto the property and disabling the alarm system. The attackers managed to disrupt a total of 10 transformers, and escaped just before police arrived. Investigators would later find more evidence of just how professional the attack was:
“After walking the site with PG&E officials and FBI agents, Mr. Wellinghoff said, the military experts told him it looked like a professional job. In addition to fingerprint-free shell casings, they pointed out small piles of rocks, which they said could have been left by an advance scout to tell the attackers where to get the best shots.”
“After walking the site with PG&E officials and FBI agents, Mr. Wellinghoff said, the military experts told him it looked like a professional job. In addition to fingerprint-free shell casings, they pointed out small piles of rocks, which they said could have been left by an advance scout to tell the attackers where to get the best shots.”
It should be abundantly clear now that some organization out there is quietly coordinating small-scale attacks against America’s power grid and internet lines. In my previous article, I suggested that they’re probing our infrastructure for weaknesses, and gauging reaction times and security. I still think that may be the case.
It’s possible that these attacks are all unrelated, but it sure doesn’t look like it to me. I won’t suggest who may be doing it since it’s impossible to know for sure, but it definitely looks like there is an organized effort of some kind to disable the electricity and communications of Arizona and California. We probably won’t know who it is until they get around to a full-scale attack, which given the vulnerability of America’s power grid, may be absolutely devastating. If you have a hunch about who these people are, share it with our readers in the comments.