A Single Mistake That Disconnected a Nation from the Internet

The internet can be regarded as one of the greatest inventions of human civilization. It has become an inseparable part of daily life, and future generations may find it impossible to imagine life without it. However, due to various technical reasons, users may sometimes be forced to remain disconnected from internet services. Something similar happened in Armenia—but in a very unusual way!

On March 28, 2011, in the European country of Georgia, a 77-year-old woman was searching through discarded items (scrap) to collect materials such as copper that could be sold. While digging with a tool she was using for this purpose, she accidentally struck an underground internet cable. As a result, Armenia’s internet service was completely shut down for four hours.

While digging in search of copper, she cut through a fiber-optic cable laid beneath the ground, which led to a total disruption of internet services in neighboring Armenia. At that time, around 90 percent of Armenia’s internet traffic was routed through Georgia. In former Soviet countries, removing old copper wires and selling them as scrap is a fairly common way to earn money.

Although the police arrested the elderly woman immediately after the incident, she was not kept in custody due to her age. On the internet, she was humorously nicknamed the “Spade (Shovel) Hacker.”