2024-07-29
Telecom and High-Speed Train Services in France Were Sabotaged
Vandals severed fiber optic cables used by several French telecommunications companies. Police say that the incident has disrupted both fixed and mobile services in six areas of France; Paris is not affected. The malicious activity follows close on the heels of sabotage that disrupted the SNCF high-speed train service shortly before the Olympics opening ceremonies.
Editor's Note
Distributed infrastructure like trains, power lines and communication lines are very susceptible to physical attack. As it is impossible to prevent these attacks, detection becomes even more important to prevent accidents. Luckily, it appears that the detection part worked, and nobody was injured due to the sabotage events.
Johannes Ullrich
Sometimes the weakest link in the IT security chain is low-tech physical attack. It's hard to defend against as you have buried cables, junction boxes, and buildings that house the IT equipment. In this case it appears to have been a coordinated attack for reasons yet to be disclosed.
Curtis Dukes
Sabotage in the form of demonstration. Was this part of your risk assessment?
Moses Frost
These fibers were not easily reached, the vandals did their homework on the location and impact of the cuts. Regardless of the motivation, make sure you donÕt still rely on security by obscurity, that even hard to find locations are as secure as those which aren't. Then assess your ability to affect service restoration in these areas to make sure you can still meet RTO.
Lee Neely
This attack was intended to disrupt the opening of the Paris 2024 Olympics. Speculation is that it took place outside of Paris because of the security measures in place in Paris. In the modern world, one cannot rely exclusively on perimeter security. The further out one pushes the perimeter, the more porous it becomes. Think layered security.