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Syria Drops Off the Internet Grid

Posted by timothy on from the what-bad-governments-do-fig-1 dept.

hypnosec writes "Amidst the ongoing civil war, Syria has gone off the Internet as of a few hours ago, with all the 84 IP block within the country unreachable from the outside. Renesys, a research firm keeping tabs on the health of the Internet, reported at about 5:25 ET that Syria's Internet connectivity has been shut down. The internet traffic from outside to Syrian IP addresses is going undelivered, and anything coming from within the country is not reaching the Internet. Akamai has tweeted that its traffic data supports what Renesys has observed." Reader trickstyhobbit adds a report from Slate that the connection "appear[s] to have been knocked off line by heavy fighting earlier this morning. They are also reporting that the shutdown may have been intentional to aid in a government operation."

13 of 156 comments (clear)

  1. Did someone say... IP Block? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Maybe Syria doesn't need to come back, or if it does, maybe not with a full block. IPv4 addresses are valuable!

  2. As we all know, by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    A communication disruption can only mean one thing.

    1. Re:As we all know, by cosm · · Score: 4, Funny

      A communication disruption can only mean one thing.

      It must be IT's fault.

      --
      'We are trying to prove ourselves wrong as quickly as possible, because only in that way can we find progress.' RPF
    2. Re:As we all know, by ackthpt · · Score: 3, Funny

      A communication disruption can only mean one thing.

      It must be IT's fault.

      They were trying to google the capitol of Syria to get past the Bridge of Death, came back with the wrong answer and they've all been cast into the Gorge of Eternal Peril.

      --

      A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
    3. Re:As we all know, by NevarMore · · Score: 4, Funny

      Hello?
      Yes.
      Have you tried turning it off and on again?

    4. Re:As we all know, by jerpyro · · Score: 4, Funny

      At least they weren't using Apple Maps, they'd have invaded Sri Lanka instead.

    5. Re:As we all know, by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

      They finally managed to kill the sysadmin somehow?

  3. Re:Mark my words: by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    The fight other fights are named after. Yes, this is the worst misuse of the word "eponymous" on the internet. Congratulations are in order.

  4. which reminds me by HPHatecraft · · Score: 4, Funny

    of my favorite (most hated) phrase: "The [I]nternet is down(1!1!)".

    I usually think to myself "yes, the entire Internet. Gone. The bastards finally did it".

  5. DAMMIT! by AuralityKev · · Score: 3, Funny

    I CAN'T GET TO LOLGOATS!

  6. Oh Noes! by Ol+Olsoc · · Score: 4, Funny

    Gosh folks, this is really Syria's.

    --
    The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
  7. Re:Dibs! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    You just want www.pus.sy

  8. Re:Cell (sail) around it? by plover · · Score: 3, Funny

    Cellular is just a last mile solution to reach the mobile devices. The actual infrastructure that carries data between cells is primarily a physical network, generally fiber, with some copper to older towers. It's not going to do much to get data in and out of the country if Syrian Telecommunications has shut off the network.

    Unless you were just trying to make a joke. In that case, keep trying. Eventually you might.

    --
    John