Social network users around the world track disruptions in the functioning of services through portal data down detector. Problems arise on both websites and social media applications.
Users of Facebook and Instagram (owned by Meta, known as extremist and banned in Russia), X, YouTube, TikTok, WhatsApp, Discord, Google services and others face difficulties with access and functionality.
Meta spokesman Andy Stone reportedIt was stated that the “technical problem” that caused the malfunctions has already been resolved. The company did not specify what exactly it was connected to.
Attack on internet cables
Israeli edition of Globes at the end of February reportedIt was stated that Yemeni Houthis damaged four submarine cables in the Red Sea, including Asia-Africa-Europe 1. This situation caused communication problems between Europe and Asia. Users in the Persian Gulf and India felt this disruption the most.
The publication stated that the damage from the attack was significant but not critical because other cables also passed through the Red Sea. According to the same time data The damage affected 25% of traffic, Hong Kong provider HGC Global Communications Limited said. The company added that it has already taken measures to mitigate the impact and has developed a plan to reroute affected traffic. Hong Kong ISP is diversifying traffic to Europe via China and the US to reduce the impact of the Houthi attack.
How Wrote Worst hit was the Asia-Africa-Europe 1 cable, which connects East Asia to Europe via Egypt, RBC said. This is a line with 40 TB/s traffic. Other affected cables are older.
“It is unknown whether they were working or not; there was no official information that Internet traffic was disrupted,” said Eldar Murtazin, a leading analyst at Mobile Research Group.
The expert also said that there may be problems with channel reservations in the region. It is needed by operators and companies that buy traffic, such as Google.
“Reservations today are bad, and if something happens to the main channels that companies have now, then it will be difficult or even impossible to provide service,” Murtazin added.
The analyst explained that the reservation in this region is now arranged so that the Houthis cannot reach it. However, they have the ability to tear cables anywhere in the world – it is cheap and does not require the use of ships.
Virtually no impact on users
Head of the analytical center Zecurion Vladimir Ulyanov in a conversation with Lenta.ru expressed There is an opinion that damage to cables in the Red Sea will have little impact on ordinary users.
“Traffic can follow different routes; In most cases the most suitable routes are chosen. When some nodes or communication channels become unavailable, rerouting occurs via other routes,” explained Ulyanov.
This may cause overload, which may cause some services to fail.
According to the expert, this can also happen due to damage to the Asia-Africa-Europe 1 cable.
“Theoretically, problems are possible. But I don’t think many people will encounter this,” Ulyanov concluded.