http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/4.12/ffglass_pr.html

Enjoy!

(Oh, the Stephenson book that is shorter than this piece is “In the Beginning Was the Command Line” which is also recommended.)

@22 ECA – Not hardly. You do not have to cut the fiber to gain access to the light pulse traveling through it. It can be accomplished by putting a bend into the fiber and placing the sensor on the bend. However, when you do that it does change the overall loss in the fiber run that is detectable, hence the need for monitoring equipment that alarms on the slightest variation in signal strength for those of us who are paranoid……

Now that I’ve bought plenty of tin foil for my hat, here are a couple of theories.

1) It really was an accident, or
2) Being intentional, it was to test/train a countries ability to tap undersea cables. Practice in an area which you don’t care about so that you can tap successfully in an area you do care about.

There’s probably better equipment around now, it darn sure isn’t going to weigh 50 pounds, or whatever.

I wouldn’t bet a lot of money on that.

I was sick of emails selling Viagra and decided to take care of this problem personally.

Next. Thank’s to JPV for answering my post #9.

JPV, check this out “The rumors are that the Navy’s newest nuclear sub, the USS Jimmy Carter, has been designed for spywork, with a “special capability… to tap undersea cables and eavesdrop on the communications passing through them,” according to the AP.”
http://www.defensetech.org/archives/001397.html

Unfortunately, this article and the Robert Hanssen spy case (where he exposed an american tap on a soviet cable which had been undetected for years) clearly shows that:
America knows how to tap an underwater cable without disrupting service and has been doing so since before 1975!

Right theory? Wrong country!

No offense, but is there something the matter with you?

There is a million and one reasons we need to communicate with people in the Middle East.

No offense, but it’s just silly to think they need to cut the cables to snoop — especially at the bottom of the ocean! We know they already ARE snooping on our emails and it’s done from the comfort of air conditioned offices illegally provided by the telcoms.

I could imagine terrorist doing such a thing but not at the bottom of the ocean.

I think this is a case for Occam’s razor.

How about jamming the entire electomagnetic band also..

Welcome back to the stone age.

“Well, the damned cables were cut in the Med, not exactly off American shores, and it’s completely possible they all just wore out at the same time, especially if they were lain about the same time.”

—–

Yeah, I forgot. The US doesn’t have any naval craft or submarines. Especially not in that area of the world. On top of that, we aren’t the only superpower fighting multiple wars in the region either. It could have been one of the other superpowers that’s also fighting in the same part of the world.

OmarTheAlien…

“Lots of stuff goes on under that water, sharks get into arguments, whales find a nice little belly scratcher laying on the sea floor, ships sink and all the fish pee in the water.”

—–

Yeah, you’re right. It was probably arguing sharks, or belly scratching whales, that cut those five cables in a period of two weeks. Makes a lot of sense now that I think about.

“You need to quit buying into all this media BS that all Americans are brain dead, and watch your ass, because there might just be one of those “Sheeple” fixing to kick it for you.”

—–

Well, I guess I must be delusional in my every day personal experience, with people I meet and all the news stories and internet posts that I read about the behavior of my fellow Americans.

I also shouldn’t be baffled by watching people get scared of Muslims, because in the whole entire history of our nation, 3,000 Americans have been killed by a handful of them on 9/11. Meanwhile 20,000 Americans murder each other EVERY YEAR and that doesn’t scare anyone. Yeah, now that I think about, there really isn’t anything strange at all about this fact.

70% of Americans believe that Saddam Hussein was involved in the 9/11 plot. At first I thought that it’s strange, that the Dictator of a secular Arab country, that repressed Muslims in his own country, would join forces with Islamic radicals. But now that you’re telling me this is all just media BS, I realize that it makes sense after all.

I guess your right. I’m totally mistaken that Americans, by and large, are idiotic sheeple that have been brainwashed by corrupt government officials and a colluding media.

Thanks for setting me straight. I owe you one.

And I will surely be watching my ass. Thanks for the friendly advice.