"Cloudflare's latest internet disruptions report reads like a global disaster log, with exam-related shutdowns, natural calamities, stray bullets, and even a Starlink software failure all taking chunks out of global connectivity. In its Q3 2025 internet disruption summary, the content delivery network said it observed "a wide variety of known causes" for global outages between July and September - from government-directed shutdowns in Sudan, Syria, and Iraq to cable cuts in Angola, Haiti, and the United Arab Emirates, along with power failures, cyberattacks, and natural disasters."
"During exam season, Iraq, Syria, and Sudan once again pulled the plug on the internet to stop students cheating. In Syria, officials even bragged that they'd dismantled "organized exam cheating networks... using advanced electronic technologies and devices." Cloudflare said the short, repeated outages "fit the pattern of short-duration disruptions repeating across multiple days," noting that similar tactics had been used in previous years."
"Elsewhere, Venezuela experienced what Cloudflare called "a slightly more unusual government-directed shutdown" when local provider SuperCable was ordered offline after losing its license. Connectivity vanished within minutes on August 18 and "remained shut down through the end of the quarter," leaving thousands without internet access. Infrastructure damage was a recurring culprit. In the Dominican Republic, fiber cuts caused by public works halted traffic for several hours, while in Angola, a disruption blamed on roadworks "resulted from public road works that affected the national fiber optic interconnections." NGOs in the country, however, accused authorities of using the"
Q3 2025 featured widespread connectivity losses caused by government-directed shutdowns, cable cuts, power failures, cyberattacks, natural disasters, and provider or software failures. Governments in Sudan, Syria, and Iraq imposed repeated short outages during exam season to prevent cheating, with officials in Syria claiming to have dismantled organized exam-cheating networks using advanced electronic devices. Venezuela’s SuperCable was ordered offline after losing its license, cutting thousands off within minutes on August 18 and remaining shut through the quarter. Earthquake damage, a fire, a targeted cyberattack, fiber cuts from public works, and a Starlink software failure also interrupted service.
#government-shutdowns #infrastructure-damage #exam-related-outages #cyberattacks #provider-software-failure
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