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Showing Original Post only (View all)Russian submarines are prowling around vital undersea cables. It's making NATO nervous. (WP) [View all]
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/russian-submarines-are-prowling-around-vital-undersea-cables-its-making-nato-nervous/2017/12/22/d4c1f3da-e5d0-11e7-927a-e72eac1e73b6_story.htmlRussian submarines are prowling around vital undersea cables. Its making NATO nervous.
By Michael Birnbaum | December 22 at 6:56 PM
BRUSSELS Russian submarines have dramatically stepped up activity around undersea data cables in the North Atlantic, part of a more aggressive naval posture that has driven NATO to revive a Cold War-era command, according to senior military officials.
The apparent Russian focus on the cables, which provide Internet and other communications connections to North America and Europe, could give the Kremlin the power to sever or tap into vital data lines, the officials said. Russian submarine activity has increased to levels unseen since the Cold War, they said, sparking hunts in recent months for the elusive watercraft.
We are now seeing Russian underwater activity in the vicinity of undersea cables that I dont believe we have ever seen, said U.S. Navy Rear Adm. Andrew Lennon, the commander of NATOs submarine forces. Russia is clearly taking an interest in NATO and NATO nations undersea infrastructure.
Britains top military commander also warned that Russia could imperil the cables that form the backbone of the modern global economy. The privately owned lines, laid along the some of the same corridors as the first transatlantic telegraph wire in 1858, carry nearly all of the communications on the Internet, facilitating trillions of dollars of daily trade. If severed, they could snarl the Web. If tapped, they could give Russia a valuable picture of the tide of the worlds Internet traffic.
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Russian submarines are prowling around vital undersea cables. It's making NATO nervous. (WP) [View all]
dalton99a
Dec 2017
OP
'The apparent Russian focus on the cables, which provide Internet and other communications
elleng
Dec 2017
#2
No, these days, they can just pick it up with the electronic version of a microphone
DFW
Dec 2017
#17
We need to make sure communicating through the print world is ready at any given moment. nt
C Moon
Dec 2017
#19
Why is the WH and Congress silent on this issue of potential national security?
Roland99
Dec 2017
#24
Yawn. American submarines are also "prowling" around the oceans of the world. Same as it ever was.
Fred Sanders
Dec 2017
#28
It's one thing for a NATO commander to talk about Soviet submarine activity
disalitervisum
Dec 2017
#29