Putin plotting worldwide internet OUTAGES by slicing undersea cables, US officials fear

Russia is plotting worldwide internet outages, according to top US military sources

RUSSIA has increased its activity around undersea fibre-optic cables – triggering concern over planned internet outages, according to The New York Times.

 

Government officials are becoming increasingly concerned over the activity of Russian submarines and ships around undersea internet cables.

According to sources for The New York Times, US officials are concerned Russia is plotting to sever the crucial internet cables and cut-off communication.

US military and intelligence officials have recorded increased Russian activity along undersea cables in the North Sea, northeast Asia and by American shores.

 

Russia could be targeting the cables at the deepest point – which are typically harder to monitor and fix – to severe communication and create disruption at times of conflict.

The level of activity is comparable to what we saw in the Cold War

European Diplomat, speaking anonymously

Moscow could also be searching for secret cables installed by the US for military purposes, the New York Times sources have cautioned.

"The level of activity is comparable to what we saw in the Cold War," a senior European diplomat has revealed.

The United States tracked Russian spy ship the Yantar last month as it travelled towards Cuba and Guantanamo Bay – where a major US undersea cable begins.

 

A staggering 95 per cent of global communications are conducted through the undersea cables

The Russian ship was carrying two deep-sea submersible vehicles, which US officials told the New York Times could be used to sever cables.

But Russia says the Yantar is not a spy ship designed to cut US online communications, but rather an oceanographic ship being used for scientific research.

Commander of the United States' navy submarine fleet in the Pacific, Rear Admiral Frederick J. Roegge told The New York Times, "I’m worried every day about what the Russians may be doing."

 

Undersea fibre-optic cables – such as those now surrounded by increased Russian military activity – facilitate some $10 trillion in global business each day.

The internet cables are also used to carry more than 95 per cent if global communications.

Russian activity has increasingly become a point of concern – fuelling growing tensions between Moscow and the West.

There is no concrete evidence that Russia is targeting or has cut any undersea cables, the New York Times investigation reiterates.