A naukri.com initiative
Arstechnica
3w
225
Image Credit: Arstechnica
Vandals cut fiber-optic lines, causing outage for Spectrum Internet subscribers
- Subscribers in Southern California of Spectrum’s Internet service faced outages due to vandals cutting fiber-optic lines that caused disruptions in Van Nuys and surrounding areas.
- The vandalism was an attempt to steal copper lines but resulted in damaging fiber optic cables, prompting Spectrum to restore service and offer a $25,000 reward for information on the perpetrators.
- Criminal acts of network vandalism have become a widespread issue in the telecommunications industry linked to the increase in the value of precious metals like copper.
- In response to the outage, Spectrum will credit affected customers with one day of service on their next bill and has restored service by splicing thousands of fiber lines.
- Copper theft has been a significant problem across various industries due to the metal's conductivity and historically low prices, leading to concerns about impacting critical infrastructure.
- The FBI warned about the threat copper theft posed to the US infrastructure in 2008 as thieves targeted copper lines, attracted by rising copper prices.
- In similar incidents, AT&T reported disruptions due to fiber line cuts, leading to costly repairs involving hundreds of lines, indicating a pattern of targeting telecommunications infrastructure for theft or disruption.
- AT&T has been transitioning from copper to fiber networks due to theft concerns and other factors, aligning with the trend in the industry to mitigate vulnerabilities associated with copper infrastructure.
- Spectrum is collaborating with law enforcement to apprehend the vandals responsible for the recent attack, emphasizing the severity of network vandalism and its impact on customers and services.
Read Full Article
13 Likes
For uninterrupted reading, download the app