Vital Action Required To Secure Undersea Data Transmission, IEEE Statement Says

It’s not just media pirates and cyber-villains that Web safety experts are concerned about today. Add Somali pirates, terrorists, saboteurs, and petty scrap metal thieves to the list. A report issued by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) says vital action is needed to secure and expand our undersea cables, as a malicious attack or accident could interrupt the incredibly backbone on which the Internet depends, turning global commerce into turmoil.

Undersea cables handle the awesome majority of our communications, carrying more than 99 percent of all data traffic across the oceans. Those cables pass through choke points generally in places where larger bodies of water narrow, such as the Suez Canal or the Luzon strait between Taiwan and the Philippines. At such points cables are susceptible, and damage to them could down entire phone networks or stump data flow to entire regions.