MFOHome About Commentary Discussions Funds The Best Resources Support Us!

Howdy, Stranger!

It looks like you're new here. If you want to get involved, click one of these buttons!

Sign In Register

Categories

In this Discussion

Here's a statement of the obvious: The opinions expressed here are those of the participants, not those of the Mutual Fund Observer. We cannot vouch for the accuracy or appropriateness of any of it, though we do encourage civility and good humor.

    Support MFO

  • Donate through PayPal

Are the Internet's Undersea Cables at Risk for Sabotage?

davfordavfor
in Off-Topic
This is one of those big "what if bad stuff happens" questions.

"Fewer than 300 cable systems transport almost all transoceanic traffic around the world. And these often run through narrow pressure points where small disruptions can have massive impacts. Since each cable can carry an extraordinary amount of information, it’s not uncommon for an entire country to rely on only a handful of systems. In many places, it would take only a few cable cuts to take out large swathes of the internet. If the right cables were disrupted at the right time, it could disrupt global internet traffic for weeks or even months."

From: Cables

Comments

  • VintageFreakVintageFreak
    Hmmm...one more thing to worry about. BTW, I always wonder how the "obvious people who might do something like this" communicate. Walkie Talkies with human relay? Pigeons? I would have thought they used cell phones, but then we could kill all cell phone towers where they live right?
  • ibartman
    edited November 2015
    Isn't the real issue that the cables would be tapped? The US did this years ago to the Russians.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Ivy_Bells
Sign In or Register to comment.