The problem of sabotage of undersea cables was brought to the attention of UN ESCAP and the senior government officials who attended the ICT and DRR Committee meeting by LIRNEasia as far back as November 2010 (see slide 20). Now it’s headline news.
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 tension or conflict.
The issue goes beyond old worries during the Cold War that the Russians would tap into the cables — a task American intelligence agencies also mastered decades ago. The alarm today is deeper: 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.
3 Comments
Kareem
Has there been any progress on building a land based network of fibre optic cables connecting Asian countries to the internet?
Rohan Samarajiva
http://www.unescap.org/our-work/ict-disaster-risk-reduction/asia-pacific-information-superhighway
Rohan Samarajiva
Of interest: http://www.vice.com/en_uk/read/we-asked-an-expert-what-would-happen-if-russia-cut-the-pipeline-to-the-internet?utm_source=vicetwitteruk
Build Physical Spaces For Children Before Banning Virtual Ones
In today’s digital age, social media has become an integral part of children’s daily lives, shaping how they interact, communicate, and build friendships. In an article published in The Daily Star, LIRNEasia Senior Research Fellow Sujata Gamage examines the growing dependence of children on social media and the risks associated with these platforms.
LIRNEasia Senior Research Manager Gayani Hurulle at CATALYZE 2026
The UN Global Compact Network Sri Lanka, on 24 June 2026, convened CATALYZE 2026: Social — From Commitment to Collective Impact. LIRNEasia was a session partner for “AI, Jobs & the Future Workforce: Navigating Uncertainty, Skills & Inclusion”, which explored how AI is changing workplaces and labour markets, and what these shifts mean for businesses, workers, skills and inclusion.
The Many Approaches to Caring in Ageing Societies of South and Southeast Asia
As societies grow older, their needs too evolve, with greater pressure on care systems being widely acknowledged as a critical issue. Broadly, care work involves supporting the physical, mental and development needs of people either directly or indirectly, while a care system refers to its overall organization (UN, 2024).
Links
User Login
Themes
Social
Twitter
Facebook
RSS Feed
Contact
9A 1/1, Balcombe Place
Colombo 08
Sri Lanka
+94 (0)11 267 1160
+94 (0)11 267 5212
info [at] lirneasia [dot] net
Copyright © 2026 LIRNEasia
a regional ICT policy and regulation think tank active across the Asia Pacific