Dyn Research, Doug Madory, has a good blog post looking at the physical
threats affecting submarine cables; as well as covering recent historical
submarine cable outages due to human action.
http://research.dyn.com/2015/10/the-threat-of-telecom-sabotage/
And also a very nice infographic by Caroline Troein, Tufts University,
show global submarine cable vulnerable points.
https://sites.tufts.edu/gis/files/2014/11/Troein_Caroline.pdf
Overall, Internet architecture has demonstrated resiliance to physical
layer disruptions, but it has not proven as resliant to logical layer
disruptions.
On Mon, 26 Oct 2015, Sean Donelan wrote:
Since the weekend's list problems seem to have died down. How about some
infrastructure news.
http://spacenews.com/from-russia-some-unofficial-assurance-about-lurking-luch-satellites-intent/
From Russia, Unofficial Assurance about Intent of Lurking Luch Satellite
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/26/world/europe/russian-presence-near-undersea-cables-concerns-us.html
Russian Ships Near Data Cables Are Too Close for U.S. Comfort
This seems to be a case of "I know you can see me, and I can see you."
Its not new. Multiple countries have demostrated submarine and satellite
capabilities over the decades ... more submarines than satellites. But
generally everyone has more to lose than gain. What is different is the
increasingly public rhetoric.
Occasional satellites or submarine cable disruptions haven't had long term
impact on the US mainland due to US connectivity options. Carriers serving
the US mainland regularly have outages and repair submarine cable and
satellite problems. But countries with less connectivity options could get
pushed around more, along the lines of "Make him an offer he can't refuse."
Some of the public rhetoric may be for allies.
