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Microsoft’s Azure cloud services have been disrupted by undersea cable cuts in the Red Sea, the US tech giant says.<\/p>\n
Users of Azure – one of the world’s leading cloud computing platforms – would experience delays because of problems with internet traffic moving through the Middle East, the company said.<\/p>\n
Microsoft did not explain what might have caused the damage to the undersea cables, but added that it had been able to reroute traffic through other paths. <\/p>\n
Over the weekend, there were reports suggesting that undersea cable cuts had affected the United Arab Emirates and some countries in Asia. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Cables laid on the ocean floor transmit data between continents and are often described as the backbone of the internet. <\/p>\n
An update posted on the Microsoft website<\/a> on Saturday said that Azure traffic going through the Middle East “may experience increased latency due to undersea fibre cuts in the Red Sea”. <\/p>\n It stressed that traffic “that does not traverse through the Middle East is not impacted”.<\/p>\n On Saturday, NetBlocks, an organisation that monitors internet access, said a series of undersea cable cuts in the Red Sea had affected internet services in several countries, including India and Pakistan.<\/p>\n The Pakistan Telecommunication Company said in a post on X that the cuts occurred in waters near the Saudi city of Jeddah and warned that internet services could be affected during peak hours. <\/p>\n Undersea cables can be damaged by anchors dropped by ships, but have also, in the past, been deliberately targeted. <\/p>\n In February 2024, several communications cables in the Red Sea were cut, affecting internet traffic between Asia and Europe. <\/p>\n The incident happened about a month after Yemen’s internationally recognised government warned that the Iran-backed Houthi movement might sabotage the cables and attack ships on the Red Sea. The Houthis denied that they had targeted cables.<\/p>\n In the Baltic Sea, a series of undersea cables and gas pipelines have been damaged in suspected attacks since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.<\/p>\n