Regional: Update: 911 Access Back, Police Say Cable Cutter Knew How To Access Lines

[TheCableVine]

CBS5.com

As AT&T crews work through this evening to repair severed fiber optic cables that have affected more than 50,000 phone lines in the Santa Clara County area, officials said the lack of 911 services has not hampered any emergency responses.
Workers restored 911 services for all residents with phone service by 5 p.m., county Office of Emergency Services spokeswoman Kirsten Hofmann announced at an evening news conference at county sheriff's headquarters.
Hofmann, who received the first call at 2 a.m. about the phone outages, said teams are going door-to-door to check on homebound senior citizens and search and rescue teams are posted in unincorporated areas in case residents need help.
The outages have been affecting more than 52,000 Internet browsers, landlines and cell phones in South San Jose, Gilroy, Morgan Hill and other areas, according to the county. Because residents could not call 911, emergency responders from across the area mobilized to make sure people could get help in case of an emergency.
Hofmann said police and ambulance radios were not affected.
AT&T spokesman John Britton said repair crews expect to complete the process of repairing the hundreds of tiny strands inside the fiber optic cables some time tonight, although he could not give a more specific estimate.
While Britton declined to speculate who might be behind the cut cables, which police are treating as an act of vandalism, he did note that whoever sawed through the plastic-sheathed cables seemed to be knowledgeable about accessing fiber optic lines.
"Somebody had the proper tool to remove the manhole cover," he said.
Between 2 a.m. and 4 a.m., fiber optic lines were cut at a total of four sites in San Jose and San Carlos. The original repair site was at Monterey Highway at Blossom Hill Road, then a second site located nearby at Hays Avenue and Cottle Road. Two San Carlos sites, near Old County Road and Bing Street, have not affected phone services, according to police Cmdr. Richard Cinfio.
San Jose fire chief Ken Waldvogel said he was not aware of anyone who needed to flag down a police officer or visit a fire department due to an emergency. Emergency responders checked with area senior homes and hospitals, he said, to make sure landlines were working.
With ATMs still out of service, cash may be difficult to come by in the southern portion of Santa Clara County.
"If you are going to need money tonight, find an ATM before you reach South San Jose," Hofmann said.
San Jose Police Chief Rob Davis also declined to speculate, but said the perpetrator's apparent familiarity with fiber optic cables is just one of several leads being investigated.
Davis also said he is confident in the information and evidence his team has collected so far.
"I pity the individual who has done this," he said of the strength of investigators' leads.
Both police departments are working with the Federal Bureau of Investigations. In addition to criminal vandalism, cutting the cables could result in state or federal criminal charges.
Legally, additional criminal charges are possible, Davis said, "If we find out there are victims who did not receive 911 services as a result of these actions."
AT&T is offering a $100,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of those responsible for the vandalism, Britton said. Anyone with information should call (408) 947-STOP.
Santa Clara County President Liz Kniss thanked the array of city and county offices that worked together to maintain safety and order, she said, in the face of a very unusual emergency situation.
"Currently we are ready for earthquakes, we are ready for fires and most everything else," she said. "We weren't ready for cables being clipped in South San Jose."

[TheCableVine]

SAN JOSE (CBS 5 / AP / BCN) ―
Vandals Blamed In Big South Bay Phone Outage (4/10/2009)

Phone service was back up throughout the South Bay on Friday, but authorities were still hunting for who was responsible for triggering the outage — raising the reward to $250,000 for information leading to the vandal or vandals.

Experts said a hacksaw and a few other tools were probably all it took for someone to sever eight fiber-optic cables in Silicon Valley early Thursday, knocking out the cell phone, landline and Internet service for tens of thousands of people in three counties for much of the day.

The attack was a reminder of the fragility of the telecommunications networks that are increasingly important in our lives. Yet physical sabotage of the networks is extremely rare, and far overshadowed by natural disasters like hurricanes. Security experts were unable to recall a similar incident.

Cables were cut at mutliple locations in San Jose and nearby San Carlos, wiping out telecom service to homes and businesses. Some people were still able to place local calls, but 911 service disappeared.

A woman in Gilroy was forced to flee her home during a robbery because she couldn't call 911. She rushed to a nearby firehouse to report the crime, city spokesman Joe Kline said.

Services returned to everyone by 12:15 a.m. Friday as repairs progressed.

Police in San Jose have received leads from potential witnesses, Sgt. Ronnie Lopez said, while FBI spokesman Brian Hale said the incident had no connection to terrorism. He did not elaborate on how that determination had been made.

Lopez said that whoever cut the cables knew how to use the proper tools to remove a heavy manhole cover and slice through the thick cables, which are protected by a heavy plastic sheath.

Still, it wasn't clearly an inside job. In San Carlos, where four fiber-optic cables were severed, Police Cmdr. Rich Cinfio cautioned people not to conclude that the crime required detailed knowledge of the system's workings.

"You can get the tools needed to do this at any local hardware store," Cinfio said.

AT&T Inc., which owns six of the severed cables, initially posted a $100,000 reward for information leading to an arrest, then raised that to $250,000 on Friday "as the full scope of the vandalism became more clear."

The increased reward "is going to generate a bunch of calls," Lopez said. "Right now we're just deciphering through leads, but don't have anything concrete yet."

Sprint Nextel Corp. said one of its cables, which provided Internet access for large business customers, was cut, too. Sprint was able to reroute traffic over other lines within a few hours of the cut, said spokeswoman Crystal Davis.

Phone and Internet service from Verizon Communications Inc. was also disrupted for about 50,000 households, since the company uses AT&T's "long-haul" telecommunications lines in the area.

Santa Clara County spokeswoman Joy Alexiou said the sheriff's department doubled patrols in areas where people's phone service was out. County workers went door-to-door checking on vulnerable people like seniors and the disabled.

Internet sabotage for the purpose of extortion or to silence an opponent's Web site is common, but the tools are usually software, not from a hardware store. Thieves sometimes target phone and power lines because the copper has scrap value, but that isn't true of optical fiber.

Greg White, director of the Center for Infrastructure Assurance and Security at the University of San Antonio, said the location of the telecom cables is known to a fair amount of people, but no one previously had shown much interest in cutting them.

"Well, now we see that not only is it possible, at least one individual has done it," he said.

Disgruntled employees and pranksters could have motives for attacks like this one, White said.

AT&T is in contract negotiations with employees on in its landline business, which maintains the fiber-optic cables, and is seeking substantial concessions on health care costs, among other things. The union denied any involvement and said it would cooperate with investigators.

"We didn't do it," said Libby Sayre, area director for the California chapter of the Communications Workers of America, the union in negotiations with AT&T. "It's not completely inexplicable why people would be inclined to speculate. But we never condone any kind of vandalism."

The severed fiber ran in underground conduits about 10 feet below ground level. In other places, optical fiber runs in pipes just under the ground, or in railway embankments.

Telecom carriers could increase security in their conduits, or build more lines to provide more backups. But both solutions are expensive, White said, and the costs would be passed on to customers. His institute helps municipalities figure out threats to infrastructure and prepare appropriately.

Computer security expert Bruce Schneier said the incident shouldn't raise fears of repeat episodes. He said the vandalism was the exception that proved the rule: Telecom sabotage is not easy.

"The fact that none of us can remember this happening before shows how difficult this is," he said.

"An idiot with a backhoe" accidentally cutting a line while digging is a much more common threat than a miscreant opening a manhole, Schneier said. More common still is a windblown tree falling on a utility line. Winter storms on the northern plains regularly take out communications for hundreds of communities.

"Before you lock up your manholes, you should support your trees," Schneier said.

[sprayandpray]

Steve, if several of us get together and swear it was the Sic1, will you divulge his location for a share of the Reward? This is the only time he would ever be worth that much!

[AULupstate]

I would bet dollars to donuts that it is a Pissed Off Union Member!!!! If AT&T is trying to cut Union benny's and frills from their contract it's a no brainer. In all reality it's probably THE MOST WORK THAT PERSON EVER DID ON A FIBER CONDUIT!!!!!

[Wingfoot]

SAN JOSE (CBS 5 / AP / BCN) ―
Vandals Blamed In Big South Bay Phone Outage (4/10/2009)

"An idiot with a backhoe" accidentally cutting a line while digging is a much more common threat than a miscreant opening a manhole," Schneier said.

Protect Your Manhole!



----------------------------------------------------------------

[beyond help]

Steve, if several of us get together and swear it was the Sic1, will you divulge his location for a share of the Reward? This is the only time he would ever be worth that much!

I'm in. I saw him do it!

[TheCableVine]

"Protect your ManHole" That is priceless.

I know the Sic1 did it. I seen him.

[yahoo]

count me in sic1 did it!!!!

[phoenix827]

Holy schnikes!!!

[Mke]

ahhh, my home town. When are tweakers going to realize that their is no copper in Fiber Optic Cables?

A few years back a tweaker had enough help as well as knowlege to locate a sizeable main feeding town (1800pr). Dug up appx 200ft of it in the middle of nowhere (swampy area along an Interstate). They however decided to cut both the 1800pr and the small little one right next to it(fiber)

[yahoo]

i would hardly think that in this case they were out to steal copper???? if so,,,, idiots!!!!

[beyond help]

Well SIC1 would be dumb enough to to cut the "small one" too.