Georgia Woman, 75, Charged With Cutting Off Armenia From The Internet

A 75-year-old Georgian woman is facing jail time after she accidentally sliced through an underground cable and caused all Internet services in neighboring Armenia to crash.

As the BBC is reporting, the Georgian Interior Ministry confirmed the woman admitted to damaging fiber optic cables while scavenging for copper in the village of Ksani on March 28. Owned by the Georgian Railway Telecom company, the cables service eastern Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan.

"She found the cable while collecting scrap metal and cut it with a view to stealing it," Georgian interior ministry spokesman Zura Gvenetadze is quoted by the AFP as saying. "Taking into account her advancing years, she has been released pending the end of the investigation and subsequent trial."

All three wholesale internet providers in Armenia -- ArmenTel, FiberNet Communication and GNC-Alfa -- were unable to provide their usual service after the woman cut the cable, though services were restored after midnight.

The Guardian reports that the unnamed woman, who has been dubbed "the spade-hacker" by local media, is being investigated on suspicion of damaging property, and could face up to three years in prison if charged and convicted.

"I cannot understand how this lady managed to find and damage the cable," the head of the company's marketing department, Giorgi Ionatamishvili, also told the AFP. "It has robust protection and such incidents are extremely rare."

Comments

[kon mu]

02:40 AM on 04/20/2011

Yeah this happened for real but she should not be charged

[Sharon Hunt]

02:07 PM on 04/12/2011

oh come on, is this a Fox joke?

[Kay Bey]

01:16 PM on 04/12/2011

THEY SHOULD NOT SEND THIS ELDER TO JAIL FOR WHAT WAS CLEARLY A ACCIDENT. HOW COULD SHE KNOW SHE WOULD DISRUPT ARMENIA'S INTERNET. I THOUGHT IT HAD ROBUST PROTECTION! YET A OLD LADY W A SPADE PENETRATED IT! DO BETTER.

[Sharon Hunt]

02:05 PM on 04/12/2011

I think she was trying to steal it.

[shirley thomas]

08:01 PM on 04/11/2011

maybe we all should take an internet holiday

[kon mu]

02:39 AM on 04/20/2011

Yeah we should. That was an awesome day here in Georgia. Did my homework without interrupting

[Max Shaw]

05:14 PM on 04/11/2011

In a couple days we'll find out it was the largest porn torrent known to man clogging the servers..

[jefferson0467]

01:53 PM on 04/11/2011

This is what a GOP retirement would look like, no Social Security, no medicare ... old people gathering scrap metal to eat.

[Boomerwoman]

11:26 AM on 04/11/2011

"it has robust protection" OK, but you didn't count on a 75-year-old with a shovel, did you?

[ivan ko]

07:30 PM on 04/10/2011

She should get e medal for doing this to Armenia.

[SilentSolidarity]

03:16 PM on 04/10/2011

On one side, it was an accident. On the other side, if you find a huge bundle of cable, you don't cut through it. You go somewhere and ask someone (e.g. the police) what kind of cable that is.

I doubt they will charge her. That's just to appease the media. Remember when that one guy threw a shoe at Bush? He got free a few months later. I mean, c'mon.

[jefferson0467]

01:52 PM on 04/11/2011

Well, he was beaten by the police so he didn't get off totally scot-free.

[CoronaDischarge]

01:33 PM on 04/10/2011

So much for redundancy. 

A whole country? That's some node access point she found. They need a new network designer.

[ilovevegas]

01:01 PM on 04/10/2011

So sad this was an accident.

[spam2]

12:32 PM on 04/10/2011

Life must really be tough there when a 75 yr old has to scrap for metal to survive.

[adamben]

01:52 PM on 04/11/2011

will be us soon enough.

[39air1]

12:17 PM on 04/10/2011

this is ridiculous,to say she cut service to entire nation.
And facing charges for doing it...
She is 75 years old for god sake.
Whats next >>charge her with treason,for attacking the country's defense system.
This had to come from Fox

[indyclem]

12:34 PM on 04/10/2011

Try the bbc your agenda is showing

[39air1]

12:52 PM on 04/10/2011

the truth is thr gtruth
its has no agenda,
more wicky leaks needed

[MichaelDavidson]

11:07 AM on 04/10/2011

The entire internet capability of Armenia was sent via one single bundle of cables? I think this woman just showed the world how easy it is for communications to be severed! No need to big bombs, just get some tin snips!

[DFutureIsNow]

10:52 AM on 04/10/2011

DANG