If the internet is primarily dependent on cables that run through oceans connecting different countries and continents. During a war, anyone can cut off a country’s access to the internet. Are there any backup or mitigant in place to avoid this? What happens if you cut the cable?

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If the internet is primarily dependent on cables that run through oceans connecting different countries and continents. During a war, anyone can cut off a country’s access to the internet. Are there any backup or mitigant in place to avoid this? What happens if you cut the cable?

In: Technology

18 Answers

Anonymous 0 Comments

I don’t know why people are getting so heated about internet infrastructure, but *seriously!?* If you’re getting this upset about coaxial cable go eat a snickers and take a walk.

You can help us avoid locking good topics like this one by reporting bad behavior when you see it and, of course, by not participating in bad behavior in the first place.

And as a reminder, off-topic discussion, anecdotes, and links without your own complementary explanation are not allowed as top-level comments (ie: direct replies to OP).

Anonymous 0 Comments

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Anonymous 0 Comments

One of the chief design goals of the internet was its durability. The internet as it exists now, particularly with the web, is very different in design and purpose than its origins as a tool for military communications during the Cold Wars.

The goal was that there was no “central hub.” There isn’t even a singular internet. It’s just various communication tools connected to one another. If one gets cut off, that’s not going to crash the whole system. You could split it in two, and each half will function perfectly fine, just as if you had simply disconnected one device.

While there’s been a lot of infrastructure built up around the internet that does give elements of centralization to various extents (see what happens when AWS or Cloudflare goes down), the core of the internet’s design remains in place. A web service outage might cause a lot of websites to go down, but it’s not going to stop your online game session. A state might cut off its internet to suppress protests, but that’s not going to stop the functionality of the internet for other countries.

Anonymous 0 Comments

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Anonymous 0 Comments

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Anonymous 0 Comments

Depending on how you define it, the internet isn’t primarily reliant on international cables. You (usually) only use those cables for international routes. Most big services will have a ‘local’ presence or at least a cache in a data center within your region. Your in-country internet will largely keep running and even international routes will reroute via less efficient options – either longer routes, cross land border cables, terrestrial microwave,or even satellite backups for those with enough money to purchase them. That’s what the internet was primarily designed to do, by DARPA. It’s quite good at doing so.
Also, in most western countries at least, there’s a lot of cables. It’s not trivially simple job to cut them all & everyone would get very ‘excited’ by their loss…

Anonymous 0 Comments

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Anonymous 0 Comments

There are a lot of good replies here. I would also like to point out that the cables are very hard to locate and very hard to access.

Once the cable is shored, it is buried 2m under the surface. Thats usually to about 70-100′ of water. Afyer that they are laid on thw surface but eventually get buried. Once laid they are only mapped after and that always changes due to a few factors.

If there is a shallow water break we just run a new shore in and leave the old cable where it lays. Just way to much hassle to find and deal with.

Omce in deep water you need very specialized vessels, location equipment and service equipment to deal with it. Not to mention not people people in the world do this kind of work.

I guess you might be able to luck out with an ROV but odds are not great. Once done most major countries have multiple redundancies and can get it repaired pretty quick.

Anonymous 0 Comments

Before internet but after cables in wwi britain cut all the cables from Europe to america that didn’t go through the uk. Those they tapped. This led to intercepting the zimmerman telegram and the us declaring war on germany.

Anonymous 0 Comments

The internet has massive redundancy and the ability to route around broken (or even just slow) connections. That’s one of its design principles.