Information Warfare At Bay – The Dangers of Russian Menace to Underwater Internet Critical Infrastructure

British Armed Forces chief has warned that Russia could compromise underwater communication cables causing severe damage to the financial global economy

It came as silently as a fatal heart stroke, and now the dangers of Russian Cyber Warfare materializes into reality.
Join us to uncover this cripple and stealth threat to our global community.

As defined by the Briefing European Parliamentary Research Service, “Hybrid conflict is a situation in which parties to the conflict refrain from the overt use of armed forces against each other, relying instead on a combination of military intimidation (falling short of an attack), exploitation of economic and political vulnerabilities, and diplomatic or technological means to pursue their objectives.”

In this regard, we take a special account in Russia development of Electronic Warfare and Navy developments to further advance conventional and unconventional threats to US and Allies.

As reported in many media outlets, Air Chief Marshal Sir Stuart Peach, who heads the British Armed Forces, in a speech to the Royal United Services Institute, has warned that Russia could compromise underwater communication cables causing severe damage to the financial global economy. As reported by BBC, “Russia is upgrading and advancing it’s use of conventional and unconventional warfare,” especially in the fifth domain: The Cyberspace.

Russian ships have been spotted regularly near the Atlantic cables and according to Marshal Peach, it is due to the lack of investments in upgrading UK Navy to match the developments of Russia Navy. The Marshal also notice that there are not enough UK ships to monitor the activities of Russia Navy. It is important to notice that since the annexation of Crimea, Russia is developing new technologies of Electronic Warfare which is putting in danger the global security.

Besides the economic danger to UK and US economies, Russian ships can also try to wiretapping and disrupt communications that could cause great danger to the intelligence community and national security of many countries.

The news comes in the midst of scandals involving Russian meddling in US election and the use of Kaspersky software, recently banned from US Government use, to spy on US Government Data. This brings some serious concerns about how secure we are in this interconnected world we live in. A new Theater of Operations is presented were rogue nations can seriously damage our way of live.

It is a serious concern since that Russia is not alone trying to undermine the world, as it has a partnership with Iran, North Korea, Syria, China and Brazil trying to destabilize the global security and economy. We must notice that to China and Brazil had contributed to Russia Cyber Upgrade since this two countries are the leading source of software piracy that causes serious economic losses and exposures to organizations around the world. In Brazil, for example, a copy of Microsoft Windows is sold for 3 dollars on the streets of Santa Ifigênia.

The US and Europe must take a firm stance with sanctions against those rogue nations and maintain an up to date investment in Navy to continuously monitor any activity that could lead to dangers to the global security. Also according to BBC, it is estimated that 97% of global communications are transmitted by underwater cables, and approximately 10 trillion of financial transaction is negotiated on a daily basis through these cables. Any scenario involving an attack to this critical infrastructure could lead not only to an enormous loss of money but also to an enormous loss of life and the collapse of modern society due to its implications on supply chain and product delivery.

Sources:

http://www.natolibguides.info/hybridwarfare/reports
https://www.icds.ee/fileadmin/media/icds.ee/doc/ICDS_Report_Russias_Electronic_Warfare_to_2025.pdf

http://www.armyupress.army.mil/Journals/Military-Review/Online-Exclusive/2017-Online-Exclusive-Articles/Russian-Actions-and-Methods/
[1]http://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/BRIE/2017/599315/EPRS_BRI(2017)599315_EN.pdf

https://rusi.org/event/annual-chief-defence-staff-lecture-2017
https://www.theregister.co.uk/2017/12/15/russia_cable_chop_warning_chief_of_defence_staff/
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2017/dec/15/britain-warns-russian-threat-undersea-internet-cab/

https://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/26/world/europe/russian-presence-near-undersea-cables-concerns-us.html
https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/5142433/russia-cripple-the-uk-internet-cables-sea-bed/
[2]http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-42362500
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-42365191
http://www.newsweek.com/russian-forces-could-cause-catastrophe-west-cutting-internet-cables-749047

https://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/vital-undersea-cables-exposed-to-attacks-from-hostile-powers-says-yorkshire-mp-1-8891193
https://policyexchange.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/Undersea-Cables.pdf

https://www.maritime-executive.com/article/uk-defense-chief-warns-of-threats-to-subsea-cables
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/12/14/russia-has-ability-disrupt-britains-internet-access-head-armed/
https://www.submarinecablemap.com/
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/dec/14/russia-could-cut-off-internet-to-nato-countries-british-military-chief-warns
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/russia-attack-uk-cables-underwater-sea-protection-a8111536.html
https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/12/15/571033102/top-british-officer-russia-may-be-able-to-cut-undersea-cables
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/economy-vulnerable-to-russian-attack-on-undersea-cable-links-rqqf0fxj8
https://www.ft.com/content/dfbc0988-e0ee-11e7-a8a4-0a1e63a52f9c
https://news.sky.com/story/uks-undersea-cables-at-risk-of-potentially-catastrophic-attack-by-russians-11171237
https://www.newsmax.com/newsfront/russia-undersea-cables-britain/2017/12/15/id/831966/
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/britain-fears-russia-could-cut-11698654
https://sputniknews.com/analysis/201712151060039576-undersea-cables-uk-russia/
https://sputniknews.com/world/201712151060027448-russia-nato-internet-uk/
https://thediplomat.com/2015/10/undersea-cables-how-russia-targets-the-wests-soft-underbelly/
http://www.euronews.com/2017/12/15/russia-could-cut-internet-sea-cables-in-new-threat-to-west-uk-defence-chief
http://www.business-standard.com/article/international/russia-could-cut-uk-s-undersea-internet-cables-warns-defence-chief-117121501327_1.html
http://www.businessinsider.com/russians-may-be-planning-to-cut-undersea-cables-2015-10

 

About the author Luis Nakamoto

Luis Nakamoto is a Computer Science student of Cryptology and an enthusiastic of information security having participated in groups like Comissão Especial de Direito Digital e-Compliance (OAB/SP) and CCBS (Consciência Cibernética Brasil) as a researcher in new technologies related to ethical hacking, forensics, and reverse engineering. Also, a prolific and compulsive writer participating as a Redactor to Portal Tic from Sebrae Nacional.

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Pierluigi Paganini

(Security Affairs –Data Leak, Anonymous Brazil)

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