[Infowarrior] - Woman single-handedly cuts off two countries from Internet

[Richard Forno]

You can't make this stuff up!!  --- rick

http://digitallife.today.com/_news/2011/04/06/6419851-woman-single-handedly-cuts-off-two-countries-from-internet
http://www.timeslive.co.za/local/article1006491.ece/75-year-old-killed-Georgia-Armenia-internet

Woman single-handedly cuts off two countries from Internet

By Rosa Golijan

A 75-year-old woman recently managed to cut off two countries — Georgia and Armenia — from the Internet by accident. We don't even dare contemplate what she is capable of doing intentionally.

The AFP reports that the woman was digging for scrap metal when she came across a fiber optic cable "which runs through Georgia to Armenia." According to Georgian interior ministry spokesman Zura Gvenetadze, the woman then proceeded to cut into the cable with intentions of stealing it.

Based on the AFP's report, it doesn't sound like the woman was attempting to take down anyone's Internet, but she did so anyway and thousands of people in both Georgia and Armenia were forced offline for hours. As a result, the elderly woman may be facing legal consequences:

The woman who was arrested in the village of Ksani has been charged with damaging property and could face up to three years in prison if convicted.

"Taking into account her advancing years, she has been released pending the end of the investigation and subsequent trial," Gvenetadze said.

It is worth noting that this isn't the first time that Georgia residents temporarily lost Internet connectivity because of a scrap metal scavenger — a very similar event occurred in 2009.