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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 NevarMore · · Score: 4, Funny

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

    3. 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.

  3. route around it? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    For those of you who think the internet is some magically self-healing construct immune to accidental or intentional disconnection of nodes and subnetworks, this should serve to show that if you aren't in charge over the physical infrastructure, you are at the mercy of those who are.

    1. Re:route around it? by sjames · · Score: 4, Insightful

      It was supposed to be that, but through a combination of governments that can't seem to keep their fingers off and corporations determined to bill for every penny's worth even if it costs a dollar to do it, the net has been turned into a series of single points of failure.

  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. Been a long time coming... by Mephistophocles · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Syrian government has been threatening cutoff for a while. My money says this is no accident.

    --
    Deja Moo: The distinct feeling that you've heard this bull before.
  6. Re:DAMMIT! by dywolf · · Score: 5, Informative

    funny enough, that's a real site.
    http://lolgoats.net/

    --
    The guy who said the election was rigged won the presidency with the second-most votes.
  7. 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.
  8. Re:Dibs! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    You just want www.pus.sy

  9. Re:Syria has the internet? by tnk1 · · Score: 4, Informative

    Syria isn't Afghanistan. They may not be Europe or the US, but they do have urban centers with modern amenities. Those amenities simply don't penetrate very far outside those areas.