A North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) is working with researchers from the US, Iceland, Sweden and Switzerland to build a system that redirects internet traffic from undersea cables to multiple satellites if this communications system is under attack or affected by a natural calamity or an accident, which would constitute a kind of internet 'apocalypse'.
The work is necessary knowing that most people in NATO countries depend on these submarine cables for online access. Therefore, a rerouting plan is necessary to avoid disruptions to global internet service, which is essential as submarine cables take on an increasingly critical role in the functioning of modern societies and economies.
In addition to this initiative, the organization has other programs to protect these facilities and HEIST (from Hybrid Space and Submarine Architecture project to Ensure Information Security of Telecommunications) should be launched later this month.
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With the geopolitical situation worsening, NATO leaders fear that Russia is mapping critical points in the US and Europe and fear that submarine cables are among the prime targets.
Under HEIST, cable activity will be constantly monitored and, in the event of disruption, traffic will be redirected to other cables or satellites, if necessary. Current monitoring systems detect problems on a scale of the nearest kilometer, but the team of researchers wants to tighten the mesh and detect problems on a more precise scale, reports the Tom's Hardware.
Within the scope of HEIST are the defense of the internet infrastructure in the event of military attacks, but also protection in the event of a natural event or accident, such as earthquakes or a ship's anchor getting caught in one of these cables - as recently happened with a ghost ship. Another necessary defense is against espionage. Although the traffic passing through the cables is encrypted, the use of quantum computers can threaten even the most advanced encryption.
