Editing Internet access (section)

===Outages===
An Internet blackout or outage can be caused by local signaling interruptions. Disruptions of [[submarine communications cable]]s may cause blackouts or slowdowns to large areas, such as in the [[2008 submarine cable disruption]]. Less-developed countries are more vulnerable due to a small number of high-capacity links. Land cables are also vulnerable, as in 2011 when a woman digging for scrap metal severed most connectivity for the nation of Armenia.<ref>{{cite news|agency=The Guardian|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/apr/06/georgian-woman-cuts-web-access|title=Georgian woman cuts off web access to whole of Armenia|date=6 April 2011|access-date=11 April 2012|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130825075603/http://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/apr/06/georgian-woman-cuts-web-access|archive-date=25 August 2013}}</ref> Internet blackouts affecting almost entire countries can be achieved by governments as a form of [[Internet censorship]], as in the blockage of the [[Internet in Egypt]], whereby approximately 93%<ref name="renesys1">{{cite web |last=Cowie |first=James |title=Egypt Leaves the Internet |publisher=Renesys |url=http://www.renesys.com/blog/2011/01/egypt-leaves-the-internet.shtml |access-date=28 January 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110128080518/http://www.renesys.com/blog/2011/01/egypt-leaves-the-internet.shtml |archive-date=28 January 2011 |url-status=dead |df=dmy-all }}</ref> of networks were without access in 2011 in an attempt to stop mobilization for [[Egyptian Revolution of 2011|anti-government protests]].<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-12306041 | work=BBC News | title=Egypt severs internet connection amid growing unrest | date=28 January 2011 | url-status=live | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120123164134/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-12306041 | archive-date=23 January 2012 }}</ref>

On April 25, 1997, due to a combination of human error and a software bug, an incorrect routing table at MAI Network Service (a Virginia [[Internet service provider]]) propagated across backbone routers and caused major disruption to Internet traffic for a few hours.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://news.com/Router+glitch+cuts+Net+access/2100-1033_3-279235.html|title=Router glitch cuts Net access|date=1997-04-25|publisher=[[CNET]] News.com|access-date=2008-07-11|archive-date=2020-07-27|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200727110252/https://www.cnet.com/news/|url-status=dead}}</ref>

{{see also|AS 7007 incident|List of web host service outages}}