Syria Disappears From Internet: Internet Companies Report Severe Drop In Traffic Tuesday From Syria

According to Google and Umbrella Security Labs, Syria appeared to have been cut off from the Internet on Tuesday. Data released by Google and Umbrella Security Labs show that Internet traffic from Syria dropped off entirely around 2:45 p.m. EDT (6:45 UTC).

Umbrella noticed the severe drop in traffic from Syria via OpenDNS, a service that provides additional features beyond traditional Domain Name System, or DNS, routing servers. Umbrella confirmed the effective disconnect of Syria from the Internet by attempting to reach the DNS servers in Syria without success.

Google’s Transparency Report documents the same behavior with all of services to Syria at the same time.

CloudFlare, an Internet content delivery network, or CDN provider, uploaded a video showing a visualization of the Internet traffic from Syria disappearing.

“Effectively, the shutdown disconnects Syria from Internet communication with the rest of the world. It’s unclear whether Internet communication within Syria is still available. Although we can’t yet comment on what caused this outage, past incidents were linked to both government-ordered shutdowns and damage to the infrastructure, which included fiber cuts and power outages," CTO Dan Hubbard of Umbrella Security Labs said.

According to CNN, reports of widespread power outages have been reported throughout Damascus and the rest of Syria.

As for who or what is responsible for the outages, there have been no confirmed reports as of 11 p.m. EDT.