Andre Yoskowitz
28 Mar 2013 12:20
Egyptian police have arrested three men this week for trying to sever an undersea Internet cable.
The cable, the SEA-ME-WE 4 main line, is part of a larger network that connects the Mediterranean, Southeast Asia, the Middle East and Western Europe and has a total of 39 landing points.
Telecom Egypt owns the line, which was in Alexandria, and ISP Seacom said the attack reduced network speed in Egypt temporarily.
"The armed forces foiled an attempt and arrested three divers while they were cutting a submarine cable," said the authorities.
Seacom was quick to respond: "SEACOM can confirm that at 06:20 GMT 27 March, the SMW4 cable system suffered a cable cut off the coast of Egypt. Earlier this morning, SEACOM had restored all services on both SMW4 and IMEWE cable systems."