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.

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 has been with TechRadar Pro for over two years, and has specialized in writing about cybersecurity, threat intelligence, and B2B security solutions. His coverage explores the critical areas of national security, including state-sponsored threat actors, APT groups, critical infrastructure, and social engineering.

Benedict holds an MA (Distinction) in Security, Intelligence, and Diplomacy from the Centre for Security and Intelligence Studies at the University of Buckingham, providing him with a strong academic foundation for his reporting on geopolitics, threat intelligence, and cyber-warfare.

Prior to his postgraduate studies, Benedict earned a BA in Politics with Journalism, providing him with the skills to translate complex political and security issues into comprehensible copy.