Russia could use “unconventional means of warfare” to cripple communications around the world by cutting undersea cables, amid increasing tensions around the world which have sparked World War 3 fears.
Tory MP Rishi Sunak, who published a Policy Exchange report on the risk Russia poses to underwater cables, said this was a “new phenomenon” of warfare.
Speaking to the BBC, he said: “This has grown up over years and it wasn’t that long ago, 20 years ago that we actually used satellites for all our digital communications so it’s a relatively new phenomenon.
“I think it’s also a relatively new phenomenon, as I mentioned in the Policy Exchange report, of Russia using unconventional means of warfare.”
Russian ships are regularly spotted close to the Atlantic cables as Mr Putin’s generals continue to explore new ways of waging unconventional war against the West.
Mr Sunak said that Russia has committed similar acts of warfare before.
He added: “We saw when they annexed Crimea one of the first things they did was to take control of the main internet exchange serving the peninsula and to indeed cut the internet cable.
“I think you know events like that, Russia’s maritime aggression has put this on our map in a way that it wasn’t quite there before.”
According to the report, published earlier this month, many cable systems are potentially at risk.
These cables are “essential” to modern life and the “digital economy”, providing internet and communications links between separate countries and continents.
The submarine network comprises an estimated 213 independent cable systems and 545,018 miles (877,121 km) of fibre around the world, according to a recent report for the Policy Exchange think tank.
The report concluded: “They are inadequately protected and highly vulnerable to attack at sea and on land, from both hostile states and terrorists.”
Mr Sunak said the locations of the cables were “both isolated and publicly available” and a successful attack would be an “existential threat to our security”.