This weekend saw disruptions to Microsoft's Azure Cloud services after cables in the Red Sea responsible for internet connectivity were found to be damaged. The company released a status warning explaining that while it has managed to redirect traffic any traffic going through the Middle East will experience delays in service until the cut cables can be repaired.
With Azure being one of the biggest cloud service providers around, the latency issues are sure to affect a large number of people and corporations. So far reports have indicated places such as the United Arab Emirates as well as parts of Asia have been experiencing delays since the damage. There's currently no word on how long it will take to resolve the problem.
"We do expect higher latency on some traffic that previously traversed through the Middle East until the undersea fiber cuts are fully addressed. Network traffic that does not traverse through the Middle East is not impacted," Microsoft says on the Azure status website.
The cause of the damage to the cables hasn't been stated, merely that they've been cut. This could mean they were damaged by boat anchors or natural causes, but many are speculating that it could be deliberate sabotage as opposed to accidental damage or wear and tear.
Sabotage to the internet's backbone of undersea cables may sound like a conspiracy theory, but it is something we've seen before in the Baltic Sea and even in the Red Sea just last year, as pointed out by the BBC. While it may merely seem annoying to have ones gaming or web browsing slowed down, this kind of act could have huge implications for affected regions. Cutting these cables can be a way to disrupt the internet for a country and dramatically impair their ability to communicate not only internally but also with the outside world.
Azure is among the Microsoft services that showed up in a list detailing the company's current involvement with Israel. Microsoft's ties to the conflict, which has seen over 64,000 Palestinians including at least 19,000 children killed, have sparked protests from many, including its own employees who the company later fired.
