WEBVTT - How Much of the Internet Is Underwater?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to brain Stuff from How Stuff Works. Hey, brain Stuff,

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<v Speaker 1>Lauren Vogel bomb here. Most of us probably don't realize it,

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<v Speaker 1>but much of the infrastructure that makes the Internet possible

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<v Speaker 1>lies on the bottom of the world's oceans, in the

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<v Speaker 1>form of vast networks of fiber optic cables that transmit

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<v Speaker 1>data between countries. Despite the vital role that these cables

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<v Speaker 1>playing global communications, they're largely unguarded because of their location underwater.

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<v Speaker 1>That vulnerability has made some headlines thanks to warnings that

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<v Speaker 1>Russia might sabotage the cables and disrupt connections between the

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<v Speaker 1>US and Europe. The head of the British Defense Establishment

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<v Speaker 1>and chairman of NATO's Military Committee, Air Marshal Sir Stuart Peach,

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<v Speaker 1>recently warned that cutting the cables quote would immediately and

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<v Speaker 1>catastrophically fracture both international trade and the Internet. According to

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<v Speaker 1>The Guardian, peaches warning echoed the conclusions of report written

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<v Speaker 1>by UK Member of Parliament Rishi Sunac, which described the

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<v Speaker 1>potential for disruption of Internet traffic as an x estential threat.

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<v Speaker 1>Sunak noted that the cables, which are largely owned and

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<v Speaker 1>operated by private companies, transmit ten trillion dollars worth of

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<v Speaker 1>financial transfers every day. It's not the first time that

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<v Speaker 1>an alarm has been sounded about the undersea cable networks.

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<v Speaker 1>Report written for the U. S. Department of Homeland Security

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<v Speaker 1>describes the effects of a two thousand eight instant in

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<v Speaker 1>which three cables in the Mediterranean which connected Italy to

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<v Speaker 1>Egypt were severed, apparently accidentally by commercial ships dragging their

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<v Speaker 1>anchors of the Internet. Connectivity between Europe and Middle East

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<v Speaker 1>was temporarily lost. As a result, most of the U. S.

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<v Speaker 1>Air Forces drone aircraft in Iraq were grounded due to

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<v Speaker 1>the lack of a reliable connection to technicians back in

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<v Speaker 1>the United States. The report warned cable breaks halfway across

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<v Speaker 1>the world threaten US vital national security interests. In The

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<v Speaker 1>New York Times reported that a Russian spy ship was

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<v Speaker 1>kept under surveillance by US planes, satellites and ships as

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<v Speaker 1>it cruised slowly down the U s. East Coast close

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<v Speaker 1>to Internet cables. The Russian ship reportedly was equipped with

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<v Speaker 1>two miniature submarines capable of going into deep water to

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<v Speaker 1>cut cables. Another Russian surveillance ship was spotted off the

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<v Speaker 1>coast of Delaware in February, according to the Christian Science Monitor.

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<v Speaker 1>But before you get too caught up in a nightmare

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<v Speaker 1>scenario of the Internet suddenly going dark due to sabotage,

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<v Speaker 1>experts say that the system, despite its lack of defenses,

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<v Speaker 1>is resilient and would be difficult for an enemy nation

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<v Speaker 1>or terrorist group to disable. The fiber cables that transmit

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<v Speaker 1>the world's data are surprisingly slim, measuring less than zero

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<v Speaker 1>point seven inches or about seventeen millimeters in thickness, according

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<v Speaker 1>to Keith Showfield, general manager of the Internet Cable Protection Committee,

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<v Speaker 1>a British based industry group. But the fiber is encased

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<v Speaker 1>in a hermetically sealed tube, which is in turn surrounded

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<v Speaker 1>by layers of high tensile steel wires, copper, and polyethylene.

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<v Speaker 1>For sections in shallower water, where cables are more likely

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<v Speaker 1>to encounter ship anchors and other man made hazards, additional

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<v Speaker 1>layers of armor are sometimes added, or else cables are

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<v Speaker 1>buried under the sea, beat Showfield told as in an email.

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<v Speaker 1>As a result, cables are damaged worldwide only about two

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<v Speaker 1>hundred times a year, which, as he said, is a

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<v Speaker 1>tiny failure rate across a network of well over a

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<v Speaker 1>million kilometers. That's six twenty one thousand miles of cable

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<v Speaker 1>linking people between continents. We also spoke with Jim Hayes,

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<v Speaker 1>president of the Fiber Optic Association, a California based professional

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<v Speaker 1>society that certifies cable network builders and operators, in a

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<v Speaker 1>telephone interview. He said that it would be difficult to

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<v Speaker 1>cut cables in the deep ocean, though a robotic submarine

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<v Speaker 1>equipped with the right tools could pull it off. The

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<v Speaker 1>cable networks are more vulnerable closer to land, where their

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<v Speaker 1>connections are in shallower water and easier to reach. It

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<v Speaker 1>wouldn't take a lot of sophisticated weapons or know how

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<v Speaker 1>to inflict the desired damage, he explained. If you want

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<v Speaker 1>to interrupt communications, you hire a crappy old fishing trawler,

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<v Speaker 1>give them a big anchor, and tell them to drag

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<v Speaker 1>it here. Attacking a cable landing probably wouldn't cause much

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<v Speaker 1>disruption in the US and other technologically advanced countries in

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<v Speaker 1>Europe and East Asia, where there are a multitude of

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<v Speaker 1>other connections that would keep the data flowing. Hayes said,

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<v Speaker 1>they might slow down the Internet in New York City,

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<v Speaker 1>but they're not going to disrupt it. There are other

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<v Speaker 1>routes that get to the same place. They can just

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<v Speaker 1>as easily go west around the world as go east.

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<v Speaker 1>The Internet works that way, but he said that sabotage

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<v Speaker 1>could cause outages in a region such as the Middle

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<v Speaker 1>East where relatively few cables are bunched in places such

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<v Speaker 1>as the Suez Canal and the Strait of Hormuz. Africa,

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<v Speaker 1>where long stretches of the continent's coast are dependent on

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<v Speaker 1>one or two cables, also has higher vulnerability. Nicole star Celeski,

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<v Speaker 1>an assistant professor of Media culture and Communication at New

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<v Speaker 1>York University and author of the book The Undersea Network,

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<v Speaker 1>explained in an email, Yes, you could disrupt the Internet

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<v Speaker 1>for a lengthy period, but only with certain attacks in

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<v Speaker 1>certain places and others traffic could be easily rerouted. Today's

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<v Speaker 1>episode was written by Patrick J. Keiger and produced by

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<v Speaker 1>Tristan McNeil. For more on this and lots of other

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<v Speaker 1>tubular topics, visit our home planet, How Stuff Works dot com.