Microsoft Cloud Services Face Disruption Due to Red Sea Cable Cuts

Sun Sep 14 2025 02:49:02 GMT+0300 (Eastern European Summer Time)

Undersea cable cuts in the Red Sea have led to delays in Microsoft Azure services, impacting internet traffic across the Middle East and beyond.

Microsoft has reported disruptions to its Azure cloud services due to undersea cable cuts in the Red Sea. The cuts are affecting internet traffic between continents, especially for users in the Middle East, India, and Pakistan. Although Microsoft has rerouted traffic to mitigate the impact, delays remain for users whose data passes through the affected areas. This incident highlights vulnerabilities both in undersea cable infrastructure and the increasing risks from potential sabotage or accidents.

Microsoft's Azure cloud services have been disrupted by undersea cable cuts in the Red Sea, the US tech giant says.

The company stated that Azure users would experience delays because of problems with internet traffic moving through the Middle East. Azure is among the world's leading cloud computing platforms.

Microsoft did not specify the cause of these cable cuts but did mention that it has rerouted traffic through alternative paths. Reports from over the weekend indicated that the cable cuts have also affected the United Arab Emirates and several countries in Asia.

An update posted on the Microsoft website on Saturday confirmed that Azure traffic going through the Middle East may experience increased latency due to undersea fibre cuts in the Red Sea and clarified that traffic not passing through the Middle East remains unaffected.

These undersea cables are crucial for transmitting data between continents, often referred to as the backbone of the internet. On Saturday, NetBlocks, an organization monitoring internet access, reported that several cable cuts in the Red Sea had disrupted services in multiple countries, including India and Pakistan.

The Pakistan Telecommunication Company noted in a post on X that the cable cuts occurred in waters near the Saudi city of Jeddah, cautioning that internet services could be affected during peak hours.

Subsequently, NetBlocks reported service disruptions in the United Arab Emirates as well. Undersea cables can suffer damage from dropped anchors but may also be subject to targeted attacks.

This recent incident is reminiscent of an event in February 2024, when several communications cables in the Red Sea were cut, impacting data traffic between Asia and Europe. The warnings from Yemen’s recognized government about potential sabotage by the Iran-backed Houthi movement may have foreshadowed these disturbances, although the Houthis denied involvement.

Furthermore, similar incidents in the Baltic Sea involving undersea cables and gas pipelines have been attributed to suspected attacks following Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Earlier this year, Swedish authorities detained a ship suspected of damaging a cable in the Baltic Sea linked to Latvia, with initial investigations suggesting sabotage.