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Yeah, in the US things are considered vandalism that would be considered a much more significant attack elsewhere. Somebody shot up a bunch of telco boxes and t

Yeah, in the US things are considered vandalism that would be considered a much more significant attack elsewhere. Somebody shot up a bunch of telco boxes and took out a whole neighbourhood’s internet connection. The response from the isp was basically “happens all the time, new kit’s coming”

jcrawfordor 6y ago
My father used to work in electricity transmission, including some very long high-voltage DC lines. He said that a big problem they have with lower-voltage lines is people shooting at the glass insulators, and a big problem they have with the high-voltage lines is people shooting at the spacers... and also stealing bolts and straps for metal value. It's interesting to think about what could have happened if someone unintentionally caused serious damage to, say, a transmission line which was the largest connection into Los Angeles, but ultimately they are built pretty sturdy. This kind of vandalism is just a huge hassle for just about any infrastructure that covers a meaningful amount of land.
mschuster91 6y ago
> The response from the isp was basically “happens all the time, new kit’s coming” I'm in Germany and worked in construction (digging) as a sub's employee for Telekom... they have digging crews on standby and spare equipment for the sidewalk boxes and cellphone towers spread across the country, as it's routine that cars crash into them, other construction workers hit underground lines, anarchists/nazis/conspiracy nuts committing arson attacks, storm damage trips poles or boxes, sometimes lightning hits and entire hoods are knocked off the net because the surge protection had issues, tree roots or water intrudes in below-ground cables, heavy snow takes out poles...
- noodlesUK 6y ago
  I think the difference I’m talking about is that if you crash a car into one of these things it could conceivably be an accident (and my guess is it almost always is accidental). Shooting a utility box until the magic blue smoke is all gone is deliberate.
  - mschuster91 6y ago
    sure, but the result for the telco is the same - a team has to go out, inspect damage, get parts and repair the damage.

jcrawfordor 6y ago

My father used to work in electricity transmission, including some very long high-voltage DC lines. He said that a big problem they have with lower-voltage lines is people shooting at the glass insulators, and a big problem they have with the high-voltage lines is people shooting at the spacers... and also stealing bolts and straps for metal value. It's interesting to think about what could have happened if someone unintentionally caused serious damage to, say, a transmission line which was the largest connection into Los Angeles, but ultimately they are built pretty sturdy. This kind of vandalism is just a huge hassle for just about any infrastructure that covers a meaningful amount of land.

mschuster91 6y ago

> The response from the isp was basically “happens all the time, new kit’s coming” I'm in Germany and worked in construction (digging) as a sub's employee for Telekom... they have digging crews on standby and spare equipment for the sidewalk boxes and cellphone towers spread across the country, as it's routine that cars crash into them, other construction workers hit underground lines, anarchists/nazis/conspiracy nuts committing arson attacks, storm damage trips poles or boxes, sometimes lightning hits and entire hoods are knocked off the net because the surge protection had issues, tree roots or water intrudes in below-ground cables, heavy snow takes out poles...

noodlesUK 6y ago
I think the difference I’m talking about is that if you crash a car into one of these things it could conceivably be an accident (and my guess is it almost always is accidental). Shooting a utility box until the magic blue smoke is all gone is deliberate.
- mschuster91 6y ago
  sure, but the result for the telco is the same - a team has to go out, inspect damage, get parts and repair the damage.