AT&T offers $100K reward in fiber optic vandalism

This is an example of why some people keep their land-line and their cell phones with different carriers. You don't want to be digging our that 30 year old CB radio when there's a problem and you can't reach 911.

AT&T offers $100K reward in fiber optic vandalism; notes second incident Between the Lines ZDNet.com:

"At some point around 2 a.m. PDT, a fiber optic line owned by AT&T but leased to Verizon became damaged. It was located in a manhole about 10 feet below the roadway. San Jose Police told KCBS-radio that they suspect vandalism and are treating the area as a crime scene.
. . .
Following the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, AT&T’s networks were declared National Critical Infrastructures. Anyone who tampers with them is in violation of federal and state laws.

The damage cut off access to 911 emergency systems for people in the area.

There were actually two incidents - one in San Jose and another in San Carlos, which is about halfway between San Jose and San Francisco."

Our fancy Internet infrastructure operates on a wire and a prayer | Between the Lines | ZDNet.com:
"Barrett Lyon asks whether it’s possible to destroy the network with a hacksaw. In a word: Yup. It happened yesterday. AT&T used Twitter—home of the Fail Whale—to communicate with customers. Anyone see the irony in that one?

What’s truly scary is that we’re not just talking about the Internet here. The electric grid is vulnerable. Our transportation grid is vulnerable. Our infrastructure in the U.S. is a big sitting duck. The grid and the Internet are top of mind today, but I’m reminded of the overall infrastructure vulnerability every trip into Penn Station. Every once in a while you’ll see heavily armed police with their K-9 dogs in Penn Station’s lobby. It’s a common sight. However, if you really wanted to bring down the train station and subway it’s nothing a stray backpack couldn’t take care of.

Simply put, it’s impossible to completely secure all of the infrastructure out there. And everyone knows it. In 2003, a student dissertation raised national security concerns. It’s not rocket science to map infrastructure and cook up scenarios."