A new initiative funded by NATO aims to make the internet less vulnerable to disruption by rerouting the flow of information into space if undersea cables are attacked or accidentally severed.
Launched on 31 July 2024, the USD 2.5 million project is partially funded by NATO’s Science for Peace and Security programme (SPS).
“Through this SPS-supported project, NATO is bringing together Allies, prominent institutions including the Cornell, John Hopkins Bifröst, and Swedish Defence Universities and the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology as well as telecommunications companies to address the urgent need for a more resilient internet infrastructure worldwide,” said Dr Eyup Turmus, SPS Advisor and Programme Manager at NATO.
The objective of the project is to create a functional prototype within a two-year timeframe, with a demonstration scheduled at the Blekinge Institute of Technology. The consortium known as Hybrid Space/Submarine Architecture Ensuring Infosec of Telecommunications (HEIST) is spearheading this initiative, which seeks to establish a hybrid network that integrates submarine cables with satellite communications to guarantee an uninterrupted data flow.
This endeavour will leverage current technologies, tackle legal and jurisdictional issues, and promote international cooperation among NATO Allies and partners, including the United States, Iceland, Sweden, and Switzerland.
In July, NATO representatives expressed concern about Russia’s actions in the North Sea where Russian ships have reportedly engaged in suspicious manoeuvres raising fears that Moscow may be planning to sabotage critical infrastructure.
An investigation by the Belgian newspaper De Tijd found that in the last 10 years, over 160 Russian civilian ships have performed nearly 950 suspicious manoeuvres, of which 750 were recorded within 1.6 kilometres of pipelines in the North Sea. Another 72 suspicious activities occurred in the area of power cables, and the remaining 124 were around telecommunications cables.
NATO is concerned about a potential Russian attack on the submarine cables that carry approximately 98 percent of global internet data and telephone traffic. Also at risk are the pipelines from Norway that supply natural gas to the continent. Protecting this infrastructure has become a top defence priority for NATO and European countries, especially after the sabotage of the Russian Nord Stream gas pipeline in 2022.
