The Complexity of Subsea Cable Repairs

Subsea cables are high-capacity fiber-optic lines laid along the ocean floor to enable global communication by transmitting data between continents. Spanning thousands of miles, they carry an estimated 95% of international internet, phone, and data transmissions.

Critically, these cables are vulnerable to sabotage by state actors, as they form critical infrastructure for global communication and economic stability. Indeed, Russia and China have been implicated in activities targeting subsea cables as recently as November 2024, and experts warn that these networks are likely to be focal points in future conflicts, heightening geopolitical tensions.

Josh Dzieza is a reporter for The Verge and has covered the subsea cable industry and the strategic importance of subsea cables. He joins the podcast alongside Gregor Vand to discuss this invisible, and increasingly important, network infrastructure.

Gregor Vand is a security-focused technologist, and is the founder and CTO of Mailpass. Previously, Gregor was a CTO across cybersecurity, cyber insurance and general software engineering companies. He has been based in Asia Pacific for almost a decade and can be found via his profile at vand.hk.