United States and allies express fear about Russia damaging undersea cables

There has been increasing worry lately among the United States and its allies about what intentions the Russian navy has in international waters. The recent activity has stoked fears that the Russians could do something to damage the undersea cables that connect much of the globe.

Without these cables, banks could not conduct business with one another across the globe as they normally do. The U.S. military would have trouble coordinating with their troops abroad. Even simple internet activities like making a Skype call would be affected.

What the end goal would be for such an attack remains unknown, as the Russians would not doubt be hindered by the damaging of these cables themselves.

Last resort

The biggest concerns right now are not so much with the warships of the Russian navy, but rather the research vessels that Russia employs around the globe. Under the guise of searching for a lost submarine, officials fear that Russia is really searching for ways that they can disrupt the global internet, should a war with the United States break out.

The "Yantar" is Russia's research vessel that is currently off of the coast of Argentina. Russia boasts that it is designed for deepwater tracking, and has the ability to tap into Undersea cables, or outright cut or jam them if needed. That declaration alone should be worrisome to the U.S. and its allies as Russia has basically said that they can and will cut the cables if they see fit.

A war would certainly fall into that category as anything goes once the bullets start flying.

How worried should we be for the internet?

The idea that Russia would deliberately cut the undersea cables just to sow destruction is unlikely. Doing so would hinder their already weak economy as much as it would damage their enemies.

Also, to cut the cables, it would require either cutting tons of the wires, or doing so at certain choke points to maximize damage. Both of these scenarios sound as petty as they are ludicrous as the act alone would be a declaration of war to many of the countries in the world.

The real fear should come from their ability to tap into the undersea cable lines, if they really can do so.

That type of information warfare would be unprecedented as it could compromise just about every communication that came over the internet from their enemies.

The Russians are clearly learning everything that they can about the undersea cables and how they work. This alone should be a red flag as hostilities continue with the United States.