US State Department 'closely monitoring' Red Sea internet cable cuts

There are fears of possible attacks on internet infrastructure

Internet services have been disrupted several times in recent years because of damage to undersea cables. Getty Images

The US State Department said on Monday that it is “closely monitoring” the situation after severed cables in the Red Sea significantly slowed internet speeds in parts of the Middle East, India and Pakistan at the weekend.

A State Department representative told The National that the US is acutely aware of the vital importance of undersea cables for commerce, communications and security around the world.

As of Sunday evening connectivity had improved but, for much of Saturday, users in countries including the UAE and Saudi Arabia reported connectivity had slowed to a crawl.

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For some in the region speeds have not yet returned to normal and experts warn it could stay that way for up to six weeks owing to the complexities with repairing cable repairs under water.

Even if accidental, identifying what or who severed the cables could prove difficult, with ships using false GPS positioning to avoid being attacked.

Although there is no indication the severed cables were the result of an attack, it has long been feared that underwater cables could become targets.

Recent turmoil in the Middle East has increased those fears. In the Red Sea, a critical telecoms route, it has been feared that Yemen’s Houthi rebels might try to cut cables, although the Iran-backed group has previously denied carrying out such acts.

But many occurrences of severed cables in recent years have been accidents, caused by anchors dropped by ships or debris dragged by vessels.

Internet in parts of Middle East slows after Red Sea cables severed

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For large companies that depend on reliable internet, cable damage can be costly.

Technology giant Microsoft, which was one of the first to report slow internet speeds throughout the Middle East at the weekend, said it maintained network traffic by rerouting it through alternative network paths for its Azure cloud computing business.

Microsoft said it rerouted traffic through alternative network paths for its Azure cloud computing. Cody Combs / The National

“We do expect higher latency on some traffic that previously traversed through the Middle East … Network traffic that does not traverse through the Middle East is not impacted,” Microsoft said.

Meanwhile, technology companies such as Cloudera, which calls itself a “hybrid data platform”, said lessons should be learnt from the Red Sea cable cuts.

“An hour of internet outage can cost millions in banking, retail and aviation,” the company said. It added that businesses should “now invest in data platforms that reroute and adapt instantly”.

Countries such as the UAE, Saudi Arabia, India and Pakistan were among those affected by severed data cables in the Red Sea. Photo: Netblocks

But for average users, even with alternative routes, cut cables can still cause problems. When the internet services that rely on the cables were put under pressure, users flocked to 5G, which in turn strained those services.

In March 2024, at least three subsea cables were cut, affecting internet traffic in Europe, the Middle East and parts of Asia. The US government found that the anchor from the Rubymar, a ship the Houthis had critically damaged, had dragged along the seabed and cut the cables.