What happens when all of the sea optical cable is attacked?

Some terrorist organization decided to sabotage the global internet by destroying the routes - that is not terrifying because there are nearly 500 fiber-optic cables and internet traffic around the globe. another optical.

These fiber optic lines, running along the ocean, are 'pipes' containing almost all trans-oceanic digital communications, allowing you to send a Facebook message to a friend in Dubai, or receive a email from cousin in Australia.

According to Wired, US Navy officers have warned for years that it would be dangerous if a terrorist organization or some nefarious nation attacked. The highest-ranking British military official also said in December 2017 that the economies will be "extremely catastrophically" affected if the undersea cable is attacked. Meanwhile, NATO is currently planning to monitor the operation of cable routes in the North Atlantic.

The global Internet thought was disconnected because some damaged marine optical cable lines were frightening. However, if a certain country or a terrorist organization does so, the consequences will not be as serious as the picture given by military organizations. The world's Internet infrastructure is very vulnerable, but terrorism is not the biggest threat. There are more complex issues, and we have to start with understanding how cable systems really work.

Marine fiber optic lines are 'pipelines' containing almost all trans-oceanic digital communications.

Nicole Starosielski, a professor at New York University, said: "The worry about someone sabotaging a cable or many cables is being inflated." Nicole Starosielski spent six years researching on marine optical cables. "If someone understands the operating principles of these systems and if they organize the attack properly, they can break the whole system. But the possibility of that is very small."

First, the sea cable is broken, vandalism is not unusual. It is estimated that there are about 428 optical cable routes worldwide, and it is normal for every one of these cable to fail every few days. Almost the reason the broken fiber optic cable is not intentional. The cause may be due to underwater quakes, rocky slopes, anchors and boats.

We often do not realize that the cable route is faulty, because if a fishing boat or some anchor fails to undermine the marine fiber cable, your connection will simply be transferred to another cable. Many regions, such as Europe, America, and East Asia, have many active cable routes. You can check the map of all marine fiber cables here.

That means that if some unrighteous nation, or a terrorist organization deliberately sabotages undersea cable, the ability to influence the global internet connection is very small. In fact, even if each submarine cable is in the Atlantic, Internet traffic will be transferred to other cable routes, across the Pacific Ocean.

Alan Mauldin, research director of TeleGeography, a telecoms market research company, including undersea cables, said: "The Internet will not work at the highest quality, but it will not happen. as if there is no connection going on '.

Mauldin said: "You can still email people in the US if all underground cables are broken. But people in Europe will not see the video of the stupid cat you posted on Facebook."

But that does not mean that the world's optical fiber cable is not at risk or unprotected, especially in areas with less internet infrastructure, such as in Africa and some Southeast regions. ASIAN. When there is a broken sea optical cable there, the consequences can be more serious, including internet disruption.

'Damaged cables can be a really serious problem and can reduce connectivity in many parts of the world , ' Mauldin said. For example, in 2011, an elderly woman interrupted an underground cable route while searching for copper, accidentally interrupting Armenia's Internet connection for five hours. This effect is significant because the Georgia cable provides almost all of Armenia's Internet access, and it is an important cable.

This single cable can be considered a "bottleneck" , or where the internet infrastructure may be at the highest risk. For example, in some areas, sea cables must pass through narrow waters of the borders of some countries, such as in the Straits of Malacca and the Red Sea. At these points, there is a high risk of marine cables being threatened for reasons such as anchoring. They are also likely to be damaged by geopolitical disputes.

Some countries also contain large numbers of cables, so they contain a great risk. For example, if the sea cables in Egypt are broken, at least 1/3 of the global internet may collapse, according to Starosielski research. Fortaleza, a city in northern Brazil, is an undersea cable car capital connecting North and South America. If it is hurt, all data from Brazil to the US will also stop.

Sometimes, the global Internet is threatened not by anchors or the like, but by bad policies. For example, in 2011, as Starosielski said, Indonesia requested only ships with Indonesian crew to repair broken cables in their waters. The problem, however, was that the train did not exist, causing delayed optical cable repair, not only affecting the internet connection in Indonesia but also in other areas passing by.

There is a risk that we do not need to worry about sharks. Although there are many reports on the media, but sharks and other fish species, do not endanger marine fiber optic cable. According to Mauldin, "there is 0% cable error due to fish bite or shark bite".