According to International Business Times there is growing concern among US military and intelligence officials that Russia could sever underwater fiber-optic cables upon which governments, economies and citizens depend, reports suggest.
More than a dozen officials have confirmed the Pentagon is focusing significant attention on the movements of Russian spy ships and submarines in the vicinity of cable routes that carry electronic communications.
Details of Russia's naval activities are highly classified, however sources close to the matter have reportedly revealed suspicious activity has been monitored in the North Sea, north east Asia and close to US shores. Some officials have gone as far as to call the level of Russian activity around these cables as "comparable to what we saw in the Cold War".
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| Underwater fiber-optic cable |
The cables are so vital to global electronic communications and commerce that the Department of Homeland Security lists them at the top of its list of most important "critical infrastructure". More than 95% of daily communications are carried along them and are said to be worth more than $10tn (£6.5tn) to global business. Pentagon planners believe if diplomatic relations break down, Russia could target cables in deep, mid-ocean locations that are difficult to repair.
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