Cuts to Red Sea internet cables were probably accidental, experts say

Efforts to bolster resilience of world's undersea cables are advancing, experts said

A scuba diver installs an articulated pipe along a cable. International Cable Protection Committee

The recent severing of cables in the Red Sea that resulted in internet speeds drastically slowing was probably accidental, a committee focused on the security of underwater cables has said.

Although it is unclear what caused the damage at the weekend, the International Cable Protection Committee said the last documented "state-sponsored sabotage" of a submarine cable probably occurred during the Second World War.

"Early independent analysis indicates that the probable cause of damage is commercial shipping activity in the region," said John Wrottesley, an operations manager for the ICPC.

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

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Recent turmoil in the Middle East prompted speculation that the cables may have been deliberately severed.

In the Red Sea, a critical telecoms route, there has been considerable concern that Yemen’s Houthi rebels might try to cut cables, although the Iran-backed group has previously denied carrying out such acts.

Early last year, several cables were severed after a vessel attacked by the Houthis in the Red Sea drifted and dropped anchor, disrupting service for weeks.

Mr Wrottesley said that shipping activity, more specifically dragged anchors, are still the most likely factors for cable damage.

"The primary causes of cable damage are through accidental human interactions," he said.

The ICPC points out, however, that the threat stemming from deliberate attacks should not be overlooked.

"Sabotage remains important to consider as a risk, and requires close co-ordination between governments and industry to ensure industry can protect and repair submarine cables," read a document provided by the ICPC.

"Seventy to 80 per cent of faults are caused by accidental human activities, primarily fishing and ship anchors, with the remaining attributed to natural hazards or technical failures."

Although it may never be known what caused the recent severing, the US State Department said on Monday that it was “closely monitoring” the situation.

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.

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

Efforts to bolster resilience are advancing

Global efforts to simplify the world of undersea cables are advancing, Tomas Lamanauskas, deputy secretary-general at the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), said.

Mr Lamanauskas said the ITU, in collaboration with ICPC and other stakeholders, through the International Advisory Body for Submarine Cable Resilience, was trying to work to “clarify and simplify” the process when cables are disrupted “so that actors know who needs to do what and when”.

“We need to pay attention in a more systematic way and that's what we're trying to do by bringing the cable industry and governments together,” he said. “We don't just respond on an incident by incident basis.

“We're making this process more simple, more transparent and with more understanding of the players.”

Mr Lamanauskas said the Red Sea was very connected with about 17 per cent of global traffic flowing through the cables there.

“Every cut does matter,” he said, adding that more countries could recognise undersea cables as critical infrastructure.

“This is a global issue that we're really looking into,” he said, stating the ITU was working with other UN entities, governments, authorities, telecom providers, lawmakers and more to advance co-operation.

“Industry is working to address these issues,” he said. “But of course our role is to help shine a light on this.”

Future protection requires a mix of measures, Fahmi Albaheth, co-founder and former president of the internet Society – Yemen Chapter, added.

He said these included diversifying routes so that traffic isn’t dependent on one corridor, strengthening regional co-operation, investing in satellite and other backup technologies, and increasing transparency between governments and telecom companies.

Slower speeds across the region

Countries in the Middle East, India and Pakistan this weekend reported significantly slower internet speeds after the cables were severed, causing many devices to switch over to 5G. But that also created a problem, with wireless networks overburdened, leading to slower speeds.

In the UAE, customers of telecoms companies du and e& said home broadband and mobile services were running significantly slower on Saturday night, with many websites and apps failing to load.

By Sunday, services had sped up, although internet monitor DownDetector.ae showed some reports of problems for both companies.

On Monday, there were still complaints in several countries of slow service.

Experts in the UAE told The National that, given the complicated nature of repairs and logistics of the affected cables, it could take up to six weeks for internet service to return to normal speeds for some.

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

Although the US-based company was not responsible for the severed cables, it has continued to provide status updates for those affected on its Azure service page.

“Undersea fibre cuts can take time to repair, as such we will continuously monitor, rebalance and optimise routing to reduce customer impact in the meantime,” Microsoft said early on Sunday.