Microsoft launched an alert, Saturday September 6, 2025, after the detection of cuts affecting several submarine cables of telecommunications in the Red Sea. The incident caused disruption on its Azure Cloud service and highlighted the fragility of the world’s internet.
According to information published on the official monitoring page of Microsoft Azure, the cuts were reported from 05:45 UTC and particularly concerned two strategic cables: SMW4 (South East ASIA –MIDE East – Western Europe 4) And IMEWE (India – Middle East – Western Europe)off Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
The American company indicated that its users have noted a increase in latency and a slowdown in performancein particular on connections between Asia and Europe. Some reports evoke that until 17 % of global internet traffic was impacted by these disturbances.
To limit the consequences, Microsoft engineers have carried out a Traffic redirection via alternative roadsto ensure the continuity of services. On September 7, the firm confirmed that His services were again fully operationalwhile maintaining reinforced monitoring and routing optimizations.
Origin of breakdown and safety issues
The exact causes of the cuts have not yet been established. If such incidents often occur as a result of accidental damage (ship anchors, fishing nets), the geopolitical context set in the region also fears the track ofdeliberate acts.
This episode recalls that 99 % of global internet traffic depends on underwater cablesan infrastructure that is both essential and vulnerable. Several similar incidents had already affected the Red Sea area in 2024 and early 2025, disturbing major telecommunications systems.
The case relaunches the debate on the Securing underwater cableswhich represent the backbone of the global digital economy. Last July, American elected officials had already challenged digital giants, including Microsoft, on the need to strengthen the protection of these infrastructures in the risk of international tensions.
