Rishi Sunak´s 2017 report about vulnerability of subsea internet cables

PREFACE/ISSUE

This post explores a post about security of subsea key infrastructure which was written in 2017 by Rishi Sunak.

• Is there any connection to the Nordstream affair?
• The report discusses internet cables but from legal point of view the topic is very similar to the gas pipelines.

Whether from terrorist activity or an increasingly bellicose Russian naval presence, the threat of these vulnerabilities being exploited is growing. A successful attack would deal a crippling blow to Britain’s security and prosperity. The threat is nothing short of existential.

[M: The same could be said about other countries including Russia]

 

[M: How interesting that the key UK official representative

 is so well versed in legal aspects of attacks

 on the key undersea infrastructure.]

[M: Interesting points - location, choke points, ease of use]

Admiral James Stavridis, US Navy (Ret) foreword

[M: US, UK are aware that the aggressor enjoys plausible deniability]

Cables Have Inadequate Protection in International Law

[M: Internet cables and gas pipelines are both classified
as "critical infrastructure"]

"...Even accidental damage far from home can have significant consequences..."

[M: Internet cables and gas pipelines are both classified
as "critical infrastructure"]

[M: The UK has done it in the past already, in ascent to WWI]

Some mistakes were made

Rishi Sunak says in his first speech as Prime Minister that he has been elected as party leader to "correct the mistakes" of predecessor Liz Truss.

21 October 2022 - Rishi’s right: Britain needs to rule beneath the waves

The Tory MP warned years ago about Britain's underwater vulnerabilities

Back in 2017, the little-known backbench MP Rishi Sunak wrote an interesting paper for Policy Exchange, warning of the vulnerability to Russian sabotage of Britain’s vital undersea infrastructure, from communications data cable to oil and gas pipelines.

As he cautioned: 

"A successful large-scale attack upon UK undersea cable infrastructure, whether at sea or on land, is an existential threat to our security. The next Strategic Defence Review should specifically consider the risks to Britain’s security from attacks on its undersea cable infrastructure and ensure steps are being taken to mitigate this risk and that our maritime assets are sufficient to the task."  

Thursday’s communications outage in the Shetlands Islands, apparently the accidental handiwork of a British fishing trawler, has a wider significance. Such events highlight an important point at a time when awareness of the vulnerability of our infrastructure is at an all-time high. It shows quite how much of our day-to-day existence depends on the security of a very few, fragile physical objects in places where we have limited oversight. The increasing penetration of British and Irish waters by Russian spy ships, carrying submarine vehicles explicitly designed to monitor and sever undersea cables, is rightly a cause for alarm.

CONCLUSION:

• THE GOVERMENT BEHIND NORDSTREAM HAD TO THINK ABOUT LEGAL ASPECTS OF BLOWING KEY ENERGY INFRASTRUCTURE.

• THE REPORT IS WELL KNOWN AND COULD HAVE BEEN USED BY UK, USA OR ANY OTHER STATE ACTOR WHO EXPLORED THE POSSIBILITY OF ATTACKING NORDSTREAM

RELATED POSTS:

• The (government size) elephant in the Nordstream affair room 

• The Definition, Severity and Accountability of the Nordstream Affair 

• Brexit as a root-case of UK instabilities

• Which western companies in Russia’s oil and gas exited before Nordstream affair? 

• Sinking ships to Denmark, cutting cables to Germany - UK has done it in the past 

 

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