Physical Vulnerability of the Internet

US-East-Coast-Map-of-Submarine-CablesJournal of Political Risk, Vol. 1, No. 7, November 2013.

Tom Elliott, Ph.D.
Managing Consultant and Vice President 

On March 27, 2013, while the technology world preoccupied itself with a sophisticated cyberattack on a spam prevention service, a low-tech assault on the Internet was taking place in shallow waters off Alexandria, Egypt. Three men with scuba gear and a fishing boat were arrested while allegedly trying to cut one of the main communications cables that links Europe to the Middle East and Africa.[1] This incident of hacking – in the most literal sense of the word – should remind us that the Internet we all rely upon depends upon physical infrastructure, much of which is easily located and relatively unprotected.

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