Submarine and terrestrial cable damages lead recent internet disruptions

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The internet relies on submarine and terrestrial cables to transfer traffic

internet connectivity
(Image credit: Shutterstock/greenbutterfly)

Submarine and terrestrial cables carry communications signals, such as internet traffic, across oceans and over land - and are often heavily insulated to prevent them from being damaged.

However, with enough determination and a little bit of ingenuity even cables in the deepest waters can be damaged, whether intentionally or not.

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Restrictions, disruptions, and unrest

The most significant deliberate disruption of internet traffic was caused by Houthi rebels operating in the Red Sea, who have cut three cables in the region alongside disrupting international shipping in a campaign of missile and drone strikes against traffic navigating the Suez canal. The Europe India Gateway, Seacom/Tata, and Asia Africa Europe-1 cables all had signs of intentional damage most likely done using a ship's anchor, the report states.

Cables surrounding the African coastline have been particularly vulnerable to underwater rockfalls, with the West African Cable System, Submarine Atlantic 3/West Africa Submarine Cable, African Coast to Europe and MainOne all receiving damage in this manner.

Elections, periods of civil unrest, or a combination of the two also contributed to outages in some regions of the world, usually done to suppress protests and control the flow of information, with Chad, Pakistan and Senegal all showing fluctuations and outages in regular traffic.

War is obviously another contributing factor for regions experiencing internet outages, with Ukraine, Sudan and Palestine all suffering impacts to their connectivity, with Ukraine's disruptions being largely caused by Russian drone and missile strikes on Ukrainian energy production infrastructure.

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Benedict Collins
Benedict Collins
Senior Writer, Security

Benedict is a Senior Security Writer at TechRadar Pro, where he has specialized in covering the intersection of geopolitics, cyber-warfare, and business security.

Benedict provides detailed analysis on state-sponsored threat actors, APT groups, and the protection of critical national infrastructure, with his reporting bridging the gap between technical threat intelligence and B2B security strategy.

Benedict holds an MA (Distinction) in Security, Intelligence, and Diplomacy from the University of Buckingham Centre for Security and Intelligence Studies (BUCSIS), with his specialization providing him with a robust academic framework for deconstructing complex international conflicts and intelligence operations, and the ability to translate intricate security data into actionable insights.