Internet, how much are underwater networks at risk of sabotaging?

As he writes Antsin June the European Parliament received a research on the safety of submarine internet cables. The lack of political attention paid to the issue so far emerges, because “the cables extend into the sea, across national borders and are often hidden underground“. So much so that according to experts, “European governance of cable protection and resilience is still lagging behind and needs to be improved“. He could take care of it Emsa, the European Maritime Safety Agency, which already has in-house technologies and tools for surveillance at sea. And that at the moment, as found in an investigation in several episodes of Wired, uses to help Frontex in border monitoring. The agency does not have a specific mandate for cable control, the report readsbut as its tasks are under review, an addition could be achieved without too many obstacles.

Europe risks being left out of the big game of underwater internet networks

Help from space

But beyond defense, there are other ways to make sure the internet stays up even if underwater networks are hit. One is it space. “In 2014 at Cisco we demonstrated the use of satellite communications to compensate for the absence of underwater ones”Explains Matt Fussa, responsible for the trust strategy in the IT giant. If already the underwater networks are designed to ensure redundancy (in the technical field, the presence in a system of elements capable of performing the same function to increase reliability if one of these is not available for various reasons), “space adds another layer”, Observes Fussa.

The use of Elon Musk’s Starlink network in Ukraine it is the prime example. When at the beginning of the invasion Russia targeted telecommunications infrastructures (and immediately attacked the satellite network of the American Viasat), the constellation of satellites offered by the founder of Tesla made it possible to keep essential public services online, businesses and citizens. A key element in the unfolding of the war, so much so that at the first hint of a step backwards by Musk, The United States and the European Union have come forward to contribute to the expenses that the tycoon no longer intends to incur. “What we saw in Ukraine is finally happening everywhere. Many companies like Cisco are also in Ukraine to learn about the dynamics of attacks that could recur in other geographic areas, it gives us a good understanding”, Observes Fussa.

The United States spied on Merkel and other European leaders using Denmark’s internet

Sensors underwater

Another tactic is to equip underwater networks with tools to defend themselves. Or rather, to record the activity around the cables and detect anomalies in real time. It is a technology he is working on, among others, too Nokia, which exhibited it at Nato Edge. The telecommunications company has developed a system to transform cables into motion sensors, capable of detecting not only earthquakes, but also the passage of ships, submarines or drones. The cables would thus become sensors capable of transmitting to the control unit a series of information on movements in the vicinity of the cable. This nwould not allow to determine immediately if it is a natural phenomenon or an attack, nor the identity of the potential saboteur, but to have a real-time signal on what is happening near the infrastructure.

The device, which is being placed on the coast, is currently being tested and Nokia plans to launch it on the market next year. In parallel, the company is researching to increase the range of sensor technology it guarantees coverage of 100 kilometers. Little, if you think about the thousands of kilometers covered by these networks. Dunant, the cable laid by Google between 2018 and 2021 between Virginia Beach, in the United States, and Saint Hilaire de Riez, in France, measures nearly 6,500 kilometers. And on six thousand travels Ellalinkwhich connects Sines, a Portuguese town that gave birth to the explorer Vasco da Gama, to the rich Fortaleza in Brazil.