The growing need to address subsea cable security

Growing digital dependencies, geopolitical tensions and the climate crisis have placed subsea cable infrastructure in increasing danger.

Experts and industry players will gather today (10 October) in Co Kerry to discuss the security of subsea cables, which runs roughly 99pc of the world’s internet traffic.

The inaugural Subsea Cable Security and Resilience Symposium will take place at the historic Valentia Island Transatlantic Cable Station from 10-12 October 2024.

Subsea cables lie on the ocean floor and send data as pulses of light inside thin strands of wires, or optical fibres, within the cable. While they are amazing engineering and technical feats, the physical nature of them also means they are susceptible to damage.

Growing digital dependencies as well as recent geopolitical tensions and the concurrent climate crisis have placed this critical telecommunications infrastructure in increasing danger.

Recent subsea incidents have garnered much attention and scrutiny, from climate-related issues taking out a major cable, cutting off the island nation of Tonga, to geopolitical concerns.

The inaugural symposium aims to ensure a greater understanding of what security and resilience means for the different players and communities involved in – and affected by – the design and deployment of these cables.

Among the speakers at the event will be Deryck Fay, author of Connecting A Nation: The Story of Telecommunications in Ireland, who previously spoke to For Tech’s Sake, Dr April Herlevi, senior research scientist at the Center for Naval Analyses in the US, and Tánaiste Micheál Martin, TD.

Leonard Hobbs, chair of the Valentia Transatlantic Cable Foundation, spoke about the significance of hosting the symposium at the Valentia cable station.

“In 1858, Europe and North America were connected for the first time via the undersea transatlantic telegraph cable, which connected Valentia in Co Kerry to Trinity Bay in Newfoundland, reducing the communication times from weeks to minutes, in an achievement now considered the 19th century equivalent of putting a man on the moon,” he said.

Graham Evans of the International Cable Protection Committee said the organisation is proud to support the event, which will bring 85 representatives from 10 countries together.

“The universal importance of those first pioneering steps in transatlantic telegraphic communications cannot be understated, and it has led to the modern interconnected world that we live in today.”

Don’t miss out on the knowledge you need to succeed. Sign up for the Daily Brief, Silicon Republic’s digest of need-to-know sci-tech news.