Russian Presence Near Undersea Cables Concerns U.S.

Ny Times ^ | OCT. 25, 2015 | DAVID E. SANGER and ERIC SCHMITT

[McGruff]

Russian submarines and spy ships are aggressively operating near the vital undersea cables that carry almost all global Internet communications, raising concerns among some American military and intelligence officials that the Russians might be planning to attack those lines in times of conflict.

The issue goes beyond old Cold War worries that the Russians would tap into the cables — a task American intelligence agencies also mastered decades ago. The alarm today is deeper: In times of tension or conflict, the ultimate Russian hack on the United States could involve severing the fiber-optic cables at some of their hardest-to-access locations to halt the instant communications on which the West’s governments, economies and citizens have grown dependent.

[Ax]

That would be too merciful, mkj. How about getting an AIDS-infected scorpion, sticking it in Ron’s mouth, then stapling his lips together. We’ll save another scorpion for his brother Edward Snowden. Ron and I used to run together, going to English soccer games. Got some stories, but this is hardly the forum.

[mkjessup]

Wouldn’t that be considered cruelty to scorpions? ;)

I’ll just bet you have some stories to tell, if you’ve not considered a book, I would sure encourage you to look into it.

Have a good week FRiend.

[RedHeeler]

Just taking care of their rental. What’s the big deal?

[Nailbiter]

reverse Blind Man’s Bluff?

[stephenjohnbanker]

Good point.

[RinaseaofDs]

Tough to tap into a fiber optic cable. Very tough. There is no skin effect going on with fiber. The signal is actually passing through the fiber medium, not over it like with copper.

That’s the way we did it to the Soviets. We inductively coupled onto their main comms line and listened to everything they were saying. Not sure which spy gave that up, but it was a devastating loss.