French Olympic Security Tripped Up by Attacks Outside of Paris
- Scale and coordination has taken authorities by surprise
- Fiber optic cables are lifelines for national infrastructure
Police officers patrol during service disruptions at Gare de Lyon railway station in Paris, France, on July 26.
Photographer: Nathan Laine/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
During the Olympics, Paris has become a maximum security-site on high alert for potential terrorist attacks. Instead, saboteurs attempted to knock out train and internet infrastructure. Both incidents involved fiber optic cables.
Attacks on France’s high-speed railway hours before the opening ceremony on Friday targeted signaling cables. Then, overnight Sunday across France, cables in multiple locations carrying broadband service were cut.