December 30, 2019
Forget Nuclear Weapons, Cutting Undersea Cables Could Decisively End A War
Our modern economy could collapse.
by Steve Weintz
Key point: Our world's reliance on the internet has only grown with time.
When a July 2015 undersea tremor triggered a rockslide between the islands of Saipan and Tinian in the Northern Marianas Islands, it cut the only fiber-optic cable connecting the archipelago to the global network. Air traffic control grounded flights, automated teller machines shut down, web and phone connections broke.
All the feared impacts of a cyber attack became real for the islanders. A Taiwan-based cable repair ship eventually restored the link, but that was a single break from one natural occurrence. How much more disruption could a deep-sea-faring nation cause its rivals through malicious intent?
https://nationalinterest.org/blog/buzz/forget-nuclear-weapons-cutting-undersea-cables-could-decisively-end-war-108651
