Cloudflare Q3 report shows the internet still breaks for the strangest reasons

Cloudflare's latest internet disruptions report reads like a global disaster log, with exam-related shutdowns, natural calamities, stray bullets, and even a Starlink software failure all taking chunks out of global connectivity. In its Q3 2025 internet disruption summary, the content delivery network said it observed "a wide …

[IglooDame]

The fine line between figurative and literal...

> a stray bullet damaged a fiber cable in the area of Dallas, Texas, causing a two-hour disruption

Stray, or aimed by some Texan ISP customer annoyed about marketing claims of bulletproof networks/connectivity? "Words have meaning", amirite?

[Anonymous Custard]

Re: The fine line between figurative and literal...

Allegedly stray, but you can draw your own conclusions...

https://www.theregister.com/2025/10/01/texas_internet_outage_gunshot/

[lglethal]

Having read this report...

If i were a minister for a dictatorial regime, wanting to take down the internet during times of protest/unrest. I'd simply have some "roadworks" directly outside the entrance where the primary connects are, and "accidentally" snip the lines with a backhoe.

"Not us people, we never ordered the internet shut down. It was that pesky Backhoe... We value communication, and blah blah blah..."

[Anonymous Coward]

Really?

"During exam season, Iraq, Syria, and Sudan once again pulled the plug on the internet to stop students cheating."

So three of the arguably least stable countries on the planet have this seemingly first world problem?