Wednesday, November 4, 2015

A New Cold War Under The Oceans?

Submarine cable map, 2013.

Admiral Jim Stavridis (Ret.), Huffington Post: A New Cold War Deep Under The Sea?

Virtually all of the world's information moves deep under the sea. Well over 95 percent of everything moving on the global Internet passes through 200 or so highly active cables, some as deep under water as Mount Everest is tall. On a normal day, that information is safe and sound, humming along the protected fiber optic strands upon which moves the information that is the backbone of the world's economy.

But recent reports by a variety of sources indicate renewed interest by Russian submarine forces in surveillance of those cables, including detailed monitoring and targeting of the system. The tactical reasons for doing so are plain: in the case of heightened tensions, access to the underwater cable system represents a rich trove of intelligence, a potential major disruption to an enemy's economy and a symbolic chest thump for the Russian Navy.

Previous Post: U.S. Intelligence Raising Concerns That Russian Subs And Spy Ships Are Operating Near Undersea Cables

WNU Editor: This "New Cold War" has been ongoing for a very long time .... NSA Taps Undersea Cables

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