DHS Role in Deterring Chinese, Russian Attacks on Undersea Cables

Deterring Foreign Interference with Undersea Cables

• 💡 Foreign interference with subsea cables has been observed among US allies, with attribution often taking significant time and coordination.
• 📌 US operators are concerned about similar activities targeting routes connecting the United States to Europe and Asia.
• ⚠️ A lack of a single federal agency clearly responsible for subsea cable security complicates the US government's organization and framework.

DHS Role in Threat Intelligence Sharing

• 🤝 From an industry perspective, DHS should play a role in supporting cable operators who detect potentially concerning activity from the PRC or Russia.
• 📊 A two-way threat intelligence sharing mechanism is essential, allowing companies access to information about emerging threats, potentially at classified or unclassified levels.
• 🇦🇺 Australia is implementing a similar system for critical infrastructure, requiring incident reporting and enabling voluntary information sharing that the government can enrich and disseminate.

Lessons from Cable Incidents

• 🛡️ Greater resilience in cable systems can help protect them and deter attacks by minimizing disruption.
• 🔍 Improved information for attribution is crucial, as current cases often leave questions about whether interference was intentional.
• ⚖️ The ability to hold responsible parties accountable is necessary; without consequences, adversaries are more likely to continue attacks.

Impact of Simultaneous Cable Disruptions

• 🇺🇸 The United States is connected by 97 cables, providing significant resilience.
• 📉 Purposeful cuts to a few cables would likely not be felt or noticed by most Americans.
• 💥 It would require an incredibly concerted effort to simultaneously cut enough cables to cause noticeable damage.