Telecommunication companies have warned NATO that Russia could sabotage undersea cables with its “shadow fleet” and could trigger a “worldwide internet blackout.”
“A submarine cable is a cable laid on the seabed between land-based stations, usually to carry telecommunication signals or power. Hundreds of cables crisscross the globe carrying 98% of internet traffic, making them essential to the global economy,” Forbes explained.
Companies including Vodafone, Telefonica, and Orange wrote a letter in which they stated, “The repercussions of damage to subsea cables extend far beyond Europe, potentially affecting global internet and power infrastructure, international communications, financial transactions and critical services worldwide. Subsea cable security must be a cornerstone of broader infrastructure protection efforts. By acting now, we can safeguard the networks that underpin our shared future,” The Daily Mail reported, noting, “More than 500 cables are used to carry about 95 percent of all international data.”
Since October 2023, 11 undersea cables have been damaged, most of them in the Baltic Sea. In January, NATO sent 10 ships to the Baltic Sea to protect the undersea cables after a spate of sabotage attacks.
In September 2021, a Russian spy ship, the Yantar, was seen in the English Channel; the ship transported two unmanned submersibles that could be used to cut the cables. “Rossiya, a Russian state TV network, has claimed the ship is able to cut Internet cables and jam underwater sensors,” The Daily Mail noted.
Matt Western, chairman of the U.K. committee supervising the U.K.’s national security strategy, warned in January, “As the geopolitical environment worsens, foreign states are seeking asymmetric ways to hold us at risk. Our internet cable network looks like an increasingly vulnerable soft underbelly.”
“NATO members said they reserved the right to take action against ships suspected of posing a security threat as part of a broader action, dubbed ‘Baltic Sentry,’ in response to a string of incidents in which power cables, telecom links and gas pipelines have been damaged in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022,” NBC News reported in January.
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Telecommunication companies have warned NATO that Russia could sabotage undersea cables with its “shadow fleet” and could trigger a “worldwide internet blackout.”
“A submarine cable is a cable laid on the seabed between land-based stations, usually to carry telecommunication signals or power. Hundreds of cables crisscross the globe carrying 98% of internet traffic, making them essential to the global economy,” Forbes explained.
Companies including Vodafone, Telefonica, and Orange wrote a letter in which they stated, “The repercussions of damage to subsea cables extend far beyond Europe, potentially affecting global internet and power infrastructure, international communications, financial transactions and critical services worldwide. Subsea cable security must be a cornerstone of broader infrastructure protection efforts. By acting now, we can safeguard the networks that underpin our shared future,” The Daily Mail reported, noting, “More than 500 cables are used to carry about 95 percent of all international data.”
Since October 2023, 11 undersea cables have been damaged, most of them in the Baltic Sea. In January, NATO sent 10 ships to the Baltic Sea to protect the undersea cables after a spate of sabotage attacks.
In September 2021, a Russian spy ship, the Yantar, was seen in the English Channel; the ship transported two unmanned submersibles that could be used to cut the cables. “Rossiya, a Russian state TV network, has claimed the ship is able to cut Internet cables and jam underwater sensors,” The Daily Mail noted.
Matt Western, chairman of the U.K. committee supervising the U.K.’s national security strategy, warned in January, “As the geopolitical environment worsens, foreign states are seeking asymmetric ways to hold us at risk. Our internet cable network looks like an increasingly vulnerable soft underbelly.”
“NATO members said they reserved the right to take action against ships suspected of posing a security threat as part of a broader action, dubbed ‘Baltic Sentry,’ in response to a string of incidents in which power cables, telecom links and gas pipelines have been damaged in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022,” NBC News reported in January.
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