Internet's Achilles Heel? Russian Subs Scout Undersea Cables
By PNW Staff January 18, 2018
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The internet is a powerful and useful tool. Unfortunately, at least in terms of the undersea cables, which make communication via the internet possible between countries, it might have a dangerous vulnerability.
This issue was recently brought to the forefront by British Armed Forces Air Chief Marshal Sir Stuart Peach and US Navy Admiral Andrew Lennon, who is the commander of NATO's submarine forces.
The Potential Risk
In a speech given to the Royal United Services Institute in December 2017, Air Chief Marshal Sir Stuart Peach laid out the potentially devastating scenario:
"There's a new risk to our way of life, which is the vulnerability of cables which crisscross the seabeds. Can you imagine a scenario where those cables are cut or disrupted? That would immediately and potentially catastrophically affect our economy and other ways of living if they were disrupted."
Russia Has Been Identified as The Most Likely Country That Could Commit The Act
US Navy Admiral Andrew Lennon, the commander of NATO's submarine forces, claims Russian activity has reached an unprecedented level. He said the following, "We are now seeing Russian underwater activity in the vicinity of undersea cables that I don't believe we have ever seen. Russia is clearly taking an interest in NATO and NATO nations' undersea infrastructure."
More on The Risk Russia Poses
It is believed that Russia has a Yantar-class spy 'intelligence ship'. This ship holds two submarines that are capable of tapping or destroying the cables. Lennon shared the following in a Washington Post piece:
"We know that these auxiliary submarines are designed to work on the ocean floor, and they're transported by the mothership, and we believe they may be equipped to manipulate objects on the ocean floor."
Where Russia Might be Targeting Their Attack
According to various sources, it seems Moscow's subs are most interested in privately owned lines that carry insulated fiber-optic cables. These cables happen to carry some 95% of the world's communications and contain around $10 trillion worth of daily transactions.
If damaged, this would cause the internet to become scrambled. Of course, the Russians could also tap into the lines, instead of damaging them, which would give them an inside look at the data flowing through the lines of communication. This would be just as devastating, if not more so, than if they simply damaged the cables.
Actions Being Taken to Protect The Cables And Prevent Disaster
Air Chief Marshal Sir Stuart Peach, who is also Chief of Defense Staff of the UK, said Britain's way of life is at catastrophic risk from Russia. To prevent this from happening, Sir Stuart says the Navy is now making it a priority to "protect the sea lines of communication".
He went on to say, "We are continuing to develop our maritime forces with our allies to match and understand Russian fleet modernization."
The Threat is Known
If there is any good that can come from this news it's the fact that British, American and NATO forces are aware of the vulnerability issue. Thankfully, since they know it exists, they can begin working on ways either to monitor Russia's activity more closely or to reinforce the cables themselves, so as to reduce their vulnerability.
This intelligence has, at the very least, identified this huge Achilles heel of the internet that could be its undoing if proper action isn't taken.
