Exploring Submarine Telecommunication Cable Technology, Cuts, and Risks with Doug Madory

Submarine telecommunication cables have been in the news a lot lately with recent cable cuts in several parts of the world, most notably in the Red Sea in the spring of 2024. This kind of activity is certainly not good for global communications, but it has given rise to a new interest in how submarine cables actually connect the world and give us the internet we have today.

There are over 500 active submarine telecom cables right now with new ones coming online soon running longer distances, with greater capacity, and connecting more geographic areas than ever before, so it goes without saying that they are also a growing attack surface for bad actors in the world.

In this episode, host Phillip Gervasi is joined by Doug Madory, an expert in internet measurement and submarine cable activity. We dive into the implications of recent submarine cable cuts in the Red Sea, and discuss the critical role these cables play in global communication. We explore how cables are laid, repaired, and the unique challenges they face, including geopolitical tensions and natural hazards. Join us as we illuminate the complex, often unseen world of submarine telecommunication infrastructure.

Helpful links:

* https://www.kentik.com/blog/what-caused-the-red-sea-submarine-cable-cuts/

* https://www.kentik.com/blog/outage-in-egypt-impacted-aws-gcp-and-azure-interregional-connectivity/

* https://blog.cloudflare.com/undersea-cable-failures-cause-internet-disruptions-across-africa-march-14-2024

* https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/african-internet-outage-was-caused-by-subsea-cable-break-mainone-says-2024-03-15/