Network on a knife edge

摘要

On 18 July 2001, a freight train derailed in the Howard Street tunnel running beneath downtown Baltimore, spilling 20,000 litres of hydrochloric acid. The resulting chemical fire destroyed fibre-optic cables owned by eight major US internet carriers. Moments later, Verizon Communications, which operates key portions of the internet's physical infrastructure in the US, lost links to two operations buildings and several other carriers' networks. For many hours, internet traffic slowed to a crawl across the entire country. "That tunnel is basically the I-95 [the main US East Coast highway] for fibre," one repair contractor told reporters. "It was a once-in-a-lifetime place for vulnerability."