Syria experiences prolonged BGP connectivity disruption

Syria experienced a significant, week-long degradation in internet connectivity beginning July 26. The disruption, which primarily affected the network’s control plane, lasted for approximately 5.7 days before being resolved around 00:30 UTC on August 1.

Technical Details

The event registered a severity score of 14,770, with the primary impact observed on the Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) signal. BGP is the mechanism that manages how traffic is routed between different networks on the internet. The signal’s median value remained at 4,792 for the duration of the event, indicating a sustained reduction in the global visibility of Syrian network prefixes.

Other measurement signals showed varying degrees of impact. The ping-slash24 signal, which measures ICMP reachability across IPv4 network blocks, saw a 7% drop from its peak. The gtr-norm signal, a forecast deviation from expected traffic patterns, recorded a more substantial 77% decline from its peak. The merit-nt signal, a proxy for aggregate connectivity, fell by 72% from its peak.

The cause has not been publicly attributed. Connectivity was reported restored by the end of the observation period.