Russia And China May Attack Undersea Internet Cables, Report Warns. Which Countries Are At Risk?

News18

17-07-2025

The report warned of increasing sabotage threats to undersea internet cables near the Baltic Sea and Taiwan, involving suspected Russian and Chinese actors.
The threat of sabotage to undersea internet cables is rising, particularly in regions near the Baltic Sea and Taiwan, according to a new report by US cybersecurity firm Recorded Future. The report warned that incidents involving suspected Russian and Chinese state-linked actors are increasing and could pose serious risks to the global internet infrastructure.
Submarine cables carry over 99% of the world's intercontinental data traffic. While many disruptions have historically been caused by accidents or natural events, a growing number of incidents now point to possible state-sponsored interference.
The report identified nine significant incidents in 2024 and 2025 involving submarine cables in the Baltic Sea and off the coast of Taiwan. These include the severing of two cables between Lithuania and Sweden last November, an incident investigators attributed to a Chinese vessel dragging its anchor. In December, a Russian oil tanker was seized after severing cables between Finland and Estonia. In waters near Taiwan, a Chinese-crewed freighter was reported to have cut cables to the outlying Penghu Islands in February after repeatedly manoeuvring in a zigzag pattern over the cable routes. A month earlier, a Chinese-owned cargo ship was cited as the likely cause of damage to a Taiwan-US cable.
'Campaigns attributed to Russia in the North Atlantic-Baltic region and China in the western Pacific are likely to increase in frequency as tensions rise," the report warned.
Recorded Future said that while it is difficult to definitively attribute recent incidents to state-sponsored sabotage, the activities 'align with both Russia and China's strategic objectives, recently observed activities and current deep-sea capabilities."
The report warned that a highly disruptive attack on multiple deep-sea cables- requiring access to difficult-to-reach areas of the ocean floor- would almost certainly involve state-sponsored actors. Such an operation, the report said, would most likely take place shortly before the outbreak of any open conflict.
Major Global Disruptions Happened Elsewhere
Despite the increased activity around the Baltic and Taiwan, the most severe disruptions to global connectivity occurred in other regions. In February 2024, a Houthi missile strike in the Red Sea led a ship to drag its anchor across several cables, causing widespread network disruptions in the Middle East. A month later, an underwater rock slide in West Africa damaged cables and in May, a cable-dragging incident off the coast of South Africa triggered further outages.
Which Countries Are Most Vulnerable?
The report identified certain vulnerable European island nations- including Malta, Cyprus and Ireland- whose reliance on submarine cables for international communication makes them more exposed to potential disruption.
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First Published:
July 17, 2025, 19:13 IST
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