Editor’s Note: The fiber-optic submarine cable sector is a vital, but often ignored, part of the world’s critical infrastructure. Many members of Congress and the U.S. government, however, see the risks to subsea cables quite differently than cable owners and manufacturers. My Brookings colleague Joseph Keller examines this disconnect, suggesting ways that the policy community can protect and advance this critical industry.
Daniel Byman
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Geopolitical tension is climbing steadily in the fiber-optic submarine cable sector. Cables are an invaluable critical infrastructure that transmit 99 percent of all intercontinental digital traffic and more than $10 trillion worth of financial transactions each day. The U.S. Congress is in the process of passing legislation to curb foreign cable construction, highlighting a key difference in the perception of security risk to subsea cables between U.S. government officials (and security analysts) and industry owners, operators, and manufacturers.
Industry stakeholders have prioritized common security risks endangering commercial competition, revenue, and network integrity but have been less engaged on the potential for cyberattacks and…
