| Yes, this is an example of https://xkcd.com/386/ so I'm creating an account on HN for the first time. > The attack against Liberia began in October 2016. More than a half-million security cameras around the world tried to connect to a handful of servers used by Lonestar Cell MTN, a local mobile phone operator, and Lonestar’s network was overwhelmed. Internet access for its 1.5 million customers slowed to a crawl, then stopped. On a more serious note,this is seriously exaggerated. Internet penetration(mostly mobile broadband) was 21% during this period and was split between LoneStarCell, Cellcom, the govt carrier - Libtelco and smaller ISPs. For a population of 4.5m people, 21% meant each mobile operator had less than 500k Internet subscribers. The post-apocalyptic description of the impact of the DDoS doesn't fit the feeling in that period ( Nov '16). Friends from outside Liberia reached out (ironically over WhatsApp) to ask whether Liberia's Internet was cut off. I checked and saw international media reporting an Internet shutdown which was even more confusing. After emailing a couple of friends at various ISPs and the regulator, I finally got confirmation that LoneStar was under attack. Apparently, they were keeping it a secret. It did not make national news for another 2 months until the formal complaint and lawsuits were filed. Mobile broadband was very patchy back then so perhaps people just assumed it was the usual state of affairs. Now, we have LTE on both operators and an upcoming pre-5G operator. Source: I'm from and have been based in Liberia (2015-present) and used to manage services at the national Internet exchange during that period. National Regulator: http://www.emansion.gov.lr/doc/CONSULTATION-DOCUMENT.pdf
Export.Gov: https://www.export.gov/article?id=Liberia-Telecommunications...
Twitter Thread: https://mobile.twitter.com/tksiakor/status/79486360223055872... |