New deep-sea cables needed to protect global economy.

[Techtu]

Just thought this was a little bit interesting

URGENT action is needed to diversify the global deep-sea cable networks on which the internet depends, to secure them against attacks and accidents that could lead to economic turmoil.

So says a report that highlights the vulnerability of businesses worldwide to the targeting of "choke points" in subsea communications networks by saboteurs, pirates and thieves.

International internet and telephone links are almost entirely dependent on bundles of fibre-optic cables that span the oceans. "More than 99 per cent of intercontinental data traffic goes via submarine cable rather than satellite," says Alan Mauldin, an analyst at Telegeography Research, a New York-based market research firm. "People don't realise the vast role cables play."

It's time they did, says Karl Rauscher, the former Bell Labs engineer who compiled the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers' (IEEE) report presented at the Worldwide Cybersecurity Summit in Dallas, Texas, last week.

The large number of cables passing through choke points, such as the Strait of Malacca near Singapore, the Luzon Strait between Taiwan and the Philippines, and the Suez Canal, are especially vulnerable, the report says. Damage to the cables at these points could lead to phone networks becoming jammed and internet traffic slowing to a crawl.

Accidents are the commonest cause of disruption, with cables becoming tangled in fishing nets or in ships' anchors. Theft of cables for the valuable metal they contain is a growing problem, and has been a major cause of communications outages in south-east Asia over the past decade. The recent increase in the activity of pirates off the Somali coast led to the planned route of a new cable between Kenya and the United Arab Emirates being moved 200 kilometres to the east.

It is not just key connections in the cable network that are vulnerable, says the report. Specialised cable-repair ships could also be targeted by pirates.

The IEEE report calls for new cables to be laid on different routes to provide back-up to vulnerable points in the network. This is already happening in the eastern Mediterranean, where later this year five new cables will provide rerouteing options (see diagram). These are being laid following repeated breaks in the link between Europe and the Middle East temporarily cutting communications, the most recent happening last month.

The report proposes the establishment of a global body to govern the undersea cable industry. However, competition between commercial operators might be an obstacle, says Mauldin. "They don't like to share much information," he says.

Paolo Rosa at the International Telecommunications Union in Geneva, Switzerland, backed the creation of a new global body. It would be of particular help to developing nations, he says.

SOURCE

 

[Hybrid_theory]

I thought these cables were burried under the sea floor to prevent such issues, well they should bury them a few feet under to prevent anchors and such from hitting them.

 

[cadaveca]

lol these cables just sit on the seabed, out in the open. I think last year, maybe the year before, 4 got cut...

 

[Kreij]

The cables are typically buried 1 - 3.5 meters under the sea bed (can be up to 10 meters) in shallow areas (<2000m depth) and are armored. Deeper than that they are unarmored and just lay on the sea floor. Where they are layed is usually a "protected zone" (no anchors, etc.) on navigational charts.

 

[cadaveca]

I wonder how deep were the ones that got cut...

 

[ShiBDiB]

interesting read. It's almost surprising that you dont see more theft or "pirating" of these. Surely the threat of cutting cables can draw some huge payoffs.

 

[Easy Rhino]

imagine tapping in to your very own bagillion internets line

 

[slyfox2151]

imagine tapping in to your very own bagillion internets line

OH IF ONLY IF ONLY it was that simple

 

[HossHuge]

The Newfoundland earthquake of 1929 broke a series of trans-Atlantic cables by triggering a massive undersea avalanche. The sequence of breaks helped scientists chart the progress of the avalanche.

In July 2005, a portion of the SEA-ME-WE 3 submarine cable located 35 kilometres (22 mi) south of Karachi that provided Pakistan's major outer communications became defective, disrupting almost all of Pakistan's communications with the rest of the world, and affecting approximately 10 million Internet users.[25][26][27]

The 2006 Hengchun earthquake on December 26, 2006 rendered numerous cables near Taiwan inoperable.

In March, 2007, pirates stole an 11 kilometres (6.8 mi) section of the T-V-H submarine cable that connected Thailand, Vietnam, and Hong Kong, affecting Vietnam's Internet users with far slower speeds. The thieves attempted to sell the 100 tons of cable as scrap.[28]

The 2008 submarine cable disruption was a series of cable outages, two of the three Suez Canal cables, two disruptions in the Persian Gulf, and one in Malaysia. It caused massive communications disruptions to India and the Middle East.[29][30]

In April 2010 the undersea cable SEA-ME-WE 4 was under an outage the South East Asia–Middle East–Western Europe 4 (SEA-ME-WE 4) submarine communications cable system, which connects South East Asia and Europe, was reportedly cut in three places, off Palmero, Italy.

one 81 years ago and now 5 in the last 5 years. Just think what would happen if there was a major break in say Tokyo or New York.

 

[Bravo2Zero]

its interesting . follow the money . if you buy a lot of stuff made in china for eg sake then the money flows into China's economy that builds up there economy in return they lend the money back to the usa now your in debt but you have more money to spend and bring in more from over seas how dose this boost the economy , Answer it doesn't . if you out source all the jobs for cheaper labor the money flows over seas . I think no matter what cable they have , it is not going to fix current trends , there for it wont fix the problem .

 

[Kreij]

Here's some info on subsea cabling.
Big print and lots of pictures for us old folks

http://www.iscpc.org/publications/About_Cables_in_PDF_Format.pdf

 

[Bravo2Zero]

Nice pictures .

 

[Easy Rhino]

Here's some info on subsea cabling.
Big print and lots of pictures for us old folks

http://www.iscpc.org/publications/About_Cables_in_PDF_Format.pdf

i need to get me some of that for my home network

 

[HossHuge]

Here's some info on subsea cabling.
Big print and lots of pictures for us old folks

http://www.iscpc.org/publications/About_Cables_in_PDF_Format.pdf

Thanks! Very informative. I wish it said how they bury the cables though.

 

[Kreij]

Page 19 named "Cable Burial - 1".

 

[HossHuge]

I must be the old folk you speak of..

 

[ShiBDiB]

its interesting . follow the money . if you buy a lot of stuff made in china for eg sake then the money flows into China's economy that builds up there economy in return they lend the money back to the usa now your in debt but you have more money to spend and bring in more from over seas how dose this boost the economy , Answer it doesn't . if you out source all the jobs for cheaper labor the money flows over seas . I think no matter what cable they have , it is not going to fix current trends , there for it wont fix the problem .

Thanks for that link Kreij, in a uber nerdy way this stuff is pretty neat.