Targeted acts of vandalism against sensitive points of the Internet network in France took place during the night of July 28 to 29, 2024, causing disruptions to almost all operators.

Targeted acts of vandalism against sensitive points of the Internet network in France took place during the night of July 28 to 29, 2024, causing disruptions to almost all operators.

A few days after the attack on the French railway network and the fire targeting a relay antenna in a commune in Haute-Garonne, new malicious acts targeting sensitive infrastructure were committed during the night of Sunday 28 to Monday 29 July 2024. This time, it was fibre optic cables that were deliberately cut in several departments by actors who have not yet been identified.

Optical fiber sabotage: at least six departments affected

According to reports that began early this morning on Monday, July 29, 2024, targeted acts of sabotage have been observed on the fiber optic network in France. According to information gathered by BFM TV from police sourcesthese attacks took place at night and affected network equipment in at least six departments, namely Aude, Bouches-du-Rhône, Drôme, Hérault, Meuse and Oise.

On social networks, sources monitoring technical incidents affecting the Internet network have also reported these malicious acts. The Free 1337 account, managed by Free’s technical teams and very active on Twitter (alias X), for example reports a “multi-operator incident” underway in several departments, and the disruption of certain services.

In detail, these are long-distance fiber optic cables connecting several major nodes in the territory (large cities) that have been voluntarily cut. These are apparently mainly regional links belonging to SFR, but several of which are shared with other French operators, such as Bouygues Telecom and Free, but also smaller local operators or professional service providers such as OVH.

Thus, the disruptions and damage caused are not limited to the SFR network alone, and also affect the services provided by all companies relying on its shared infrastructure. In principle, the operator Orange would not be affected and its network would not be experiencing any difficulties at the moment.

Optical fiber sabotage: a worrying attack but limited repercussions

While these acts of sabotage are obviously worrying and should call for increased vigilance on critical infrastructures such as telecommunications networks, they nevertheless have a (relatively) limited impact on the functioning of the Internet in general. This network was indeed designed, from its inception, to be redundant and to offer multiple paths for the transmission of information.

In this way, in the event of a communication channel being broken, digital data can continue to transit between different points of the network, using other routes. No reason to give in to catastrophism, therefore, and no need to cry out about the “collapse of the Internet”, as Alec Archambault (aka X), a lawyer specializing in digital technology, rightly points out on Twitter.

In this case, we must therefore mainly expect a deterioration in the functioning of the network, with a lower flow rate and higher latency for those affected. Total outages may also be observed in certain areas, but they will not be on a national scale.

According to the information shared on Twitter by Nicolas Guillaumethe Director of the operator Netalis, the police forces would already be present on all the sites concerned by the malicious acts, in order to carry out the necessary legal observations before starting the restoration operations. The public authorities and private companies therefore seem to be showing great responsiveness in this case, which can give hope for a return to normal within a reasonable time.

Authors not identified at this time

This is the question that will burn all lips and agitate all editorial offices today: who is behind these acts of sabotage? In this matter, we will nevertheless have to be patient and cautious, because for the moment no serious and substantiated information is available. Any attribution of these acts to any group or movement whatsoever will for the moment be nothing more than pure speculation by a studio columnist.

Foreign interference or a political group, anything is possible at the moment, even if the precision and degree of preparation of the attack probably rule out isolated acts of vandalism. The modus operandi and the targets have many similarities with the fire at a relay antenna that occurred on the night of July 26 in Saint-Orens de Gameville on the outskirts of Toulouse, which seems to have been claimed by an anarchist group opposed to the organization of the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games. This is therefore an interesting lead, which the competent authorities will certainly follow up. But once again at this time, there is no solid information to support it.

What is particularly questionable is the concomitance of these acts with the sabotage perpetrated on the SNCF communications network last week, during the Paris 2024 events. While acts of vandalism on various types of equipment, telecommunications or otherwise, are not exceptional events, their multiplication and degree of preparation in such a short time window necessarily raises questions, and brings back to the forefront the issue of the security of critical technological infrastructures. If the saying “Never two without three” is confirmed, who will be the next target?