US needs to temper reliance on at-risk undersea internet cables, satellites can help: Aerospace

WASHINGTON: Some 430 undersea fiber optic cables carry 99% of intercontinental internet traffic, and those lifelines of global commerce are highly vulnerable to natural — and increasingly deliberate —  disruption, a new study by Aerospace Corporation’s Center for Space Policy and Strategy warns.

“Undersea cable infrastructure is ripe for sabotage,” said Karen Jones, one of the authors of the study. She spoke to Breaking Defense news along with co-author Lori Gordon in an interview Wednesday.

The study, “Global Communications Infrastructure: Undersea and Beyond,” concludes that while the US should increase protection efforts, it also needs to look at how other types of communications infrastructure can be utilized and protected to provide alternate pathways for this traffic.