Russian submarines are circling dangerously close to underwater sea cables which transmit the vast majority of all global Internet communications.
American officials are primarily concerned about surveillance, that is, Russians tapping into the cables and monitoring sensitive communication, but the greater hazard is the severing of fiber-optic cables, which would wreak havoc on western economies, The New York Times reports. The cables are estimated to carry more than $10 trillion a day in global business.
At this time, there’s no evidence to suggest that Russia intends to cut cables.
“I’m worried every day about what the Russians may be doing,” Rear Adm. Frederick J. Roegge, commander of the Navy’s Pacific submarine fleet, told The New York Times.
Both the Navy and Pentagon are keeping quiet about their highly sensitive analyses of Russian naval activity. A senior European diplomat also told The New York Times that Russia’s activity is reminiscent of the Cold War, an assessment with which Adm. James Stavridis, dean of the Fletcher School of Law, agreed.
Undersea cables are actually cut fairly often, especially by anchors. But in most cases, the repairs are simple because the cuts occur just a few miles off shore. Those repairs take days.
Many of the long-standing cables are located in familiar areas. There’s nothing hidden about them at all. The Russians, however, seem to have their eyes on cables at a much greater depth, as well as secret cables which the United States use for military operations. At the moment, Xtera Communications Inc. is building an undersea cable from Florida to Guantanamo Bay after receiving a contract from the Department of Defense. As usual, not much has been published on the topic, as the Pentagon is keeping details secret. Cables like these have strategic value, which is why the Department of Defense is concerned that Russians subs are getting a little too close to unlisted cables.
Additionally, it is clear that Russia has no compunctions about completely dominating electronic communications in another country. This is what took place during Russia’s incursions into eastern Ukraine, although overall the cyber war was not as intense as it could have been, owing to the fact that Russia already had near-full access to Ukrainian telecommunications for one simple reason: Russia built the networks.
At any time during the invasion, Russia could have shut down power and telecommunications.
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