The recent disruption of undersea cables connecting Nordic countries has sparked concerns about the vulnerability of the global communications infrastructure. Two separate incidents in November affected cables linking Lithuania-Sweden and Finland-Germany, raising suspicions of potential sabotage.
These events highlight how the world's internet relies heavily on hundreds of fiber optic cables - each roughly the size of a garden hose - quietly lying on ocean floors worldwide. Protecting this critical infrastructure presents mounting technological challenges.
The defense of these cables varies depending on their location. In confined waters like the Baltic Sea and Mediterranean, where patrol distances are manageable, emerging technologies like uncrewed underwater vehicles (UUVs) show promise for cable monitoring. However, safeguarding cables across vast open oceans poses a far greater challenge.
Undersea cables face different threats depending on their depth. Shallow coastal waters, where cables are accessible to anchors and submersibles, require more active protection than deep-sea segments. When cables enter a nation's exclusive economic zone, protection becomes primarily a matter of military and law enforcement rather than technological solutions.
The sheer scale of the network complicates protection efforts. As of 2024, approximately 1.5 million kilometers of communications cables crisscross the world's oceans. Monitoring such an extensive network continuously is currently impossible, though new technologies are emerging to watch high-risk areas.
Present defensive measures focus on physical protection - burying cables in trenches or camouflaging them to prevent detection. Satellite imaging technology from companies like BlackSky Technology and SpaceX's Starshield may soon provide enhanced monitoring capabilities for suspicious vessel activity near known cable routes.
However, experts warn that the same technological advances in UUVs that could help protect cables might also be used to damage them. Future scenarios could involve coordinated attacks using multiple UUVs, with timing designed to obscure the source of the damage.
As nations grapple with these challenges, NATO is exploring satellite-based internet backup routes. However, this alternative remains in early development stages and may take years to become viable. Until then, protecting the underwater backbone of global communications will remain a pressing technological puzzle.