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One important question that I'm unclear on is how long it takes to fix one of these cables. If it takes months then that is quite a wide window in which an attacker could incrementally take down cables.
Generally it can be fixed in days. They raise it from the sea floor and splice in a new cable section.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Generally it can be fixed in days. They raise it from the sea floor and splice in a new cable section.
Crazy that you can splice optical cable..
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Generally it can be fixed in days. They raise it from the sea floor and splice in a new cable section.
Crazy that you can splice optical cable..
One important question that I'm unclear on is how long it takes to fix one of these cables. If it takes months then that is quite a wide window in which an attacker could incrementally take down cables.
In this particular case, it seems like the attackers were trying for plausible deniability (making it look like an accident with an anchor). A comprehensive series of "accidents" wouldn't fit that goal. (And if they decide they don't care about plausible deniability, they could use sub-deployed timed mines to take out every cable at once.)
The frustrating part of this kind of petty tactic is that bullies can do just enough to annoy and inconvenience their targets, while never quite doing enough to make it worth expending the political capital to hold them to account. From the bully's perspective there's no downside. And if legitimate accidents or rogue actions get portrayed as deliberate then all the better - that just reinforces the bully's reputation as an actor to be feared while further eroding trust in the international institutions that may one day challenge it.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I mean… they get terminated somehow, right?
True, but splicing without leaving behind a powered repeater is different from the final termination with active electronics on the end. It's pretty cool tech
To be clear, I’m saying to terminate each end of the cut cable to a terminating device that continues the flow of light, not just the termination at the beginning/end of the line. Sorry if that wasn’t obvious.
Shhh, or somebody will realize how much slack there is in the system (for very good reasons, as evidenced here) and "optimize" it away...