Although satellite internet services like Starlink have expanded, the majority of the world's internet traffic still flows through undersea cables. These cables, alongside oil and gas pipelines and power lines, now face growing sabotage risk as gray-zone warfare and conflicts spread, according to a new book by Atlantic Council senior fellow Elisabeth Braw.
Braw reports that roughly 60 percent of cable damage results from ordinary human error during fishing and shipping. Between 150 and 200 cables are damaged each year and usually quickly repaired. However, suspicious incidents—such as ships dragging anchors for unusually long distances—have led governments to investigate and prosecute crews. Notable cases include the Eagle S, which cut four data cables and the Estlink 2 power cable in the Baltic in December 2024, and a Chinese captain convicted in Taiwan for severing a cable in February 2025.
The economic stakes are high. Braw notes that even a one-minute disruption to subsea cables would cause massive operational losses and disrupt financial hubs like New York. Historically, a broad international consensus and treaties like UNCLOS protected this infrastructure, but Braw argues that commitment is declining among key countries. At the same time, new threats are emerging, including Iranian efforts to impose fees on cables in the Strait of Hormuz and Russian submarine activity near Norway's Svalbard archipelago.