ZeroFox Physical Security Intelligence Daily Brief - February 28, 2024

ZeroFox Physical Security Intelligence Daily Brief - February 28, 2024

ZeroFox physical security experts collect, curate, and analyze information derived from open and proprietary sources for comprehensive context of the circumstances surrounding global events. Here is today’s daily roundup of major developments.

Brief Highlights

• Houthis Damage Undersea Communication Cables in the Red Sea
• Mass Farmers' Protest in Warsaw, Poland
• Widespread Social Media and Internet Outage in Russia

Houthis Damage Undersea Communication Cables in the Red Sea

On February 26, sources reported that Yemen-based Houthi rebels had damaged four undersea communication cables in the Red Sea between Djibouti and the Saudi Arabian city of Jeddah. The damaged cables belong to the companies AAE-1, Seacom, EIG, and TGN, which form an extensive network of communication lines with other data providers linking Europe, Asia, and Africa. Earlier this month, the Houthis threatened to target these cables if Israel continued its offensive in Gaza. Internet disruptions from the damage have mostly been reported in Gulf countries and India; disruptions are serious but not critical since many other Red Sea cables remain functional. Damage could take up to eight weeks to repair, bringing the risk that Houthis could target repair crews. The attack highlights continued Houthi willingness to find new ways to disrupt global operations in response to Israel’s Gaza campaign.

Mass Farmers' Protest in Warsaw, Poland

On February 27, thousands of Polish farmers marched in Warsaw to protest European Union climate policies and an influx of cheap Ukrainian food products to the European market. This demonstration marked the largest farmers' protest in Poland, amid farmers' protests throughout Europe. In response to the protest, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said he may consider widening an existing Polish ban on Ukrainian grain imports if the EU does not enact changes to protect the bloc's agricultural markets. Tusk is under increasing pressure from Polish farmers to reduce the flow of Ukrainian food products into Europe, which Polish farmers claim has undercut their profits.

Widespread Social Media and Internet Outage in Russia

On February 27, Russia faced a widespread internet and telecommunications outage beginning around noon Moscow time (GMT +3) that lasted about 90 minutes. The outage majorly impacted social media and messaging sites, including Telegram, Viber, WhatsApp, YouTube, and Vkontakt. Russian residents also complained major cellular providers such as Beeline and Megafon were experiencing disruptions. Immediately after the outage, Reuters reported several previously blocked social media apps were briefly available in Russia without using a virtual private network (VPN). Russia blocked many Western social media apps, including Facebook and Instagram, soon after it invaded Ukraine in February 2022, and VPNs are now usually required to access these apps within Russia. These disruptions come one month after Russia faced a mass internet outage that affected nearly all .ru domains. The outages may be connected to government efforts to improve its Runet infrastructure. For the past several years, Russia has worked to isolate Runet from the global internet.