- Two subsea data cables in the Baltic Sea were damaged this week.
- “Nobody believes that these cables were cut accidentally,” said the German defense minister.
- Cables around the world are vulnerable to sabotage, and the consequences can be severe.
Two subsea telecoms cables in the Baltic Sea have been damaged in a suspected act of Russian sabotage, highlighting the fragility of the world’s data networks.
A 730-mile (1,170km) C-Lion1 cable carrying data between Germany and Finland was severed on Monday.
Meanwhile, a 135-mile (218km) internet link between Lithuania and Sweden’s Gotland Island stopped working on Sunday, according to Sweden’s Telia Group.
“No one believes that the cables were accidentally damaged,” said Boris Pistorius, Germany’s defense minister.
“We have to assume, without certain information, that the damage is caused by sabotage.”
Germany and Finland said they were “deeply concerned” by the damage to the C-Lion1 cable, which is run by Finnish state-controlled cyber security and telecoms company Cinia.
“Our European security is not only under threat from Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine but also from hybrid warfare by malicious actors,” a joint statement read.
The impact
As the world has become more dependent on the internet, subsea cables have become increasingly vital.
The cables now span around 745,000 miles and are responsible for transmitting 95% of international data.
They carry vital internet data between countries, including streaming services and financial information. According to NATO, around $10 trillion in financial transactions travel across these vast cable networks each day.
Such cables have long been vulnerable to attack, but can also be damaged by dragging anchors, weather, and other incidents.
If the cables are seriously damaged or disabled, swaths of the internet services we take for granted and that our economies rely on would be wiped out.
The company statements didn’t specify the cost of getting the cables back online, but the International Union of Marine Insurance said the cables usually cost around $7 to $12 million to repair.
The economic damage caused by the loss of data services from a cable is difficult to estimate, but according to a recent report by Gallagher, it can quickly reach billions of dollars.
Telia told Lithuania’s TRT that data is transferred to Lithuania using three cables, and the severance meant bandwidth was reduced by a third for some users, though the company managed to bypass the fault.
Business Insider has contacted Cinia for comment on the impact of the cut, with its statement saying that as a result “the services provided over the C-Lion1 are down.”
Subsea cables are under threat globally
The incident is the latest in a series of mysterious disruptions to undersea cables that have been linked to Russia.
In September, a NATO official told BI that Russia had deployed a specialist naval sabotage unit, the General Staff Main Directorate for Deep Sea Research, to monitor and potentially target cables.
BI has contacted Russia’s defense ministry for comment.
It comes amid deepening tensions with the West over the Ukraine war.
In 2021, miles of cables near Lofoten, Norway mysteriously vanished in an incident in which Russia was suspected of involvement.
Carl-Oskar Bohlin, Sweden’s minister for civil defense, said damage to a telecommunications cable running under the Baltic Sea in 2023 was the result of “external force or tampering,” though provided no details.
The risk is growing
Gregory Falco, assistant professor of engineering at Cornell University, is leading a NATO-funded effort to make the internet less vulnerable to disruptions by rerouting data through space.
He told BI that the cables’ overlapping ownership often makes it unclear who is responsible for protecting them.
“The writing has been on the wall for a while now relating to subsea cable disruption. Western countries have been relying heavily on subsea infrastructure without creating robust resilience around it,” he said.
In a recent report, experts at the CSIS called on countries to intensify efforts to safeguard the infrastructure, warning that “without coordinated international efforts to safeguard these cables, the risks of disruption, espionage, and economic instability will continue to grow.”
Analysts believe that the cables in the Baltic are vulnerable to attack by Russia because of their proximity.
In September, a spokesman for NATO told BI that the alliance had “stepped up naval patrols near undersea infrastructure” and said that “NATO’s North Atlantic Council has stated clearly that any deliberate attack against Allies’ critical infrastructure will be met with a united and determined response.”
BI has contacted NATO for further comment.
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