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Police Hunt Silicon Valley Phone Vandals

50K lose service in attack that highlights systems' vulnerability

By Will McCahill, Newser Staff

Posted Apr 10, 2009 11:50 AM CDT

(Newser) – Authorities in Silicon Valley are hunting for saboteurs who cut fiber-optic telecom cables, leaving more than 50,000 customers—including police and hospitals—in parts of three counties without phone and internet service, the San Francisco Chronicle reports. Ten cables were severed, crippling 911 operations, cellphone service, and businesses depending on landlines for debit- and credit-card transactions. The incident, officials say, underscores the vulnerability of the system.

“Currently we are ready for earthquakes, we are ready for fires and most everything else,” one county supervisor said. “We weren't ready for cables being clipped in South San Jose.” An AT&T spokesman said the vandals looked to have insider information or experience, KCBS-AM reports. San Jose’s police chief said his investigators are hot on the trail, adding, “I pity the individual who has done this.”

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Business that relied on landlines for the debit- and credit-card operations were crippled by the vandalism. (AP Photo)

The cutting of 10 fiber-optic cables like this one crippled more than 50,000 phone and internet customers in the San Francisco Bay area. (AP Photo)

Police and hospitals lost phone service in parts of the San Francisco Bay area yesterday after saboteurs clipped fiber-optic cables. (AP Photo)

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Some of the questions that come up are whether the system has adequate backup capabilities and whether or not the phone companies are adequately protecting and maintaining the equipment they do have. - Mindy Spatt, consumer watchdog

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Police Hunt Silicon Valley Phone Vandals