The United States has expressed its distaste regarding the close proximity of Russian submarines to the underwater cables that facilitate most of the world's global internet usage. Granted the distance that Russian submarines are maintaining, authorities in the US are worried that the global communication lines will be tapped into or severed in case conflict arises.
The US government has grown wary about Russia's increased naval activity near undersea fiber optic cables, which serve as highways for most of the instant communication and data services that citizens within the West have been dependent on. The danger that the current situation presents goes beyond that of the Cold War between the now dissolved Soviet Union and NATO along with its allies.
Moreover, given that the underwater cables carry 95 percent of daily global communications and commerce, having them cut in hard-to-access areas means paralyzing almost the whole world for a significant amount of time before it can be repaired.
"It would be a concern to hear any country was tampering with communication cables," said Navy spokesperson Cmdr. William Marks.
According to a Sunday report by the publication, there is yet to be evidence of the cables being cut or tampered with. Nonetheless, the whole situation causes the US to be suspicious and question Russia's increased military presence and activity throughout the globe.
"I'm worried every day about what the Russians may be doing," Rear Adm. Frederick J. Roegge said.
The New York Times also alleges that Russia's increased naval activity follow the known paths of the undersea cables, which are the veins of global commerce and electronics.
Furthermore, Yantar, a spy ship from Russia, which is rumored to be equipped with deep-water submersible crafts, was spotted as it travelled towards Cuba. Note that another underwater cable runs along the Cuban seas.
"The risk here is that any country could cause damage to the system and do it in a way that is completely covert, without having a warship with a cable-cutting equipment right in the area," Michael Sechrist, who used to be a manager for a project that the Department of Defense funded, explained.
Photo: O de Andrade | Flickr
