US Worried Over Russian Presence Near Undersea Cables
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Every time you use the internet – watching videos, sending e-mails, browsing the web – data is being sent and received through an intricate cable system that stretches around the globe which has been continuously laid since the 1850s. Today there are hundreds of thousands of kilometers of fiber optic cables constantly transmitting data all across the globe.
Cutting off these cables could result in more than just your missing out on more cat videos, but are a matter of national and global security. The US is now worried over increased presence of Russian submarines near American territorial waters for exactly this reason.
Russian submarines and intelligence ships located near the physical undersea cables transmitting most of the world’s Internet communications are getting a little too close for comfort. U.S. officials are reportedly worried about an attack that could cut off the lines of instant communication among Western powers.
The New York Times reports American officials are concerned about the positioning of the Russian ships, fearing their location may indicate plans to cut fiber-optic Internet cables during a future conflict.
the Russian Navy appeared to be seeking to locate the precise coordinates of the fiber-optic cables, but according to reports, it is less interested in tapping into the cables and more interested in mapping their location so that it can attack them during a hypothetical clash with the US. The ultimate goal would be to sever them “at some of their hardest-to-access locations” if Russia ever needed to disrupt the flow of communication to and from the US.
Commander William Marks, a Navy spokesman, told theTimes that “it would be a concern to hear any country was tampering with communication cables; however, due to the classified nature of submarine operations, we do not discuss specifics.”
