noticing russian submarines increased activity in the atlantic and think one of their targets of surveillance, not attack, surveillance are the under sea cables that run under the atlantic between the u.s. and europe carrying vital data, voice, internet, all the communications fundamentally between the two continents. this is some of the most critical infrastructure the u.s. has. what they noticed is russian submarines stepping up patrolling, very secretly trying to maneuver near the cables, not to cut them but maybe poke at the united states and say here we are because there are also sensors that warn the u.s. when a submarine, when something is approaching those cables. they also last month saw a russian intelligence ship, surface ship very unusual come down the east coast of the united states, go down to cuba and then go back across the atlantic. we are told u.s. naval
than putting on a show under the sea. a new report from the new york times sites more than a dozen u.s. officials raising concerns russian submarines and spy ships are patrolling under sea cables. massive fiberoptic lines spanning from continue innocent to continent. their goals are to humiliate the united states and project naval power into the atlantic showing the united states and europe, we re here, you have to deal with us and take us seriously and we can propose a threat to your most vital interest. reporter: according to the times, they are worried if a larger conflict between the u.s. and russia broke out, they could find a wire, and drop a wiretap or destroy it. we hear a lot of talk about the cloud for example and we
partners and unfortunately lost his life for that. our deepest condolences to his wife and four kids. sad development, indeed. we re following the report of russian trips and submarines lurking near under sea cables that carry almost all of the world s internet communications. officials are growing increasingly concerned. brian ittodd is joining us. these cables are vital. we all use them. vladimir putin and his military as we know are constantly going on the offensive confronting, provoking and antagonizing rivals in crimea, syria and elsewhere and putin may have reached a new low, challenging a vital priest of u.s. infrastructure miles under the atlantic. reporter: putin flexing military might inside a russian navy submersible but some are questioning if he s doing more
what are these cables. what kind of information passes through here? these are under sea cables that run all across the oceans of the world. there are a relatively small number of them. they are fiberoptic. that s really what moves the internet. it s not up on satellites or cell phone towers. most of this information 95% moves on these under sea cables. the relatively few of them. they are relatively exposed particularly where they come off the deep seabed and on to the continental shelf and into land. as few as 20 cables carry 80% of the world s i.t. information. so they are a significant vulnerability here. if there is some kind of vulnerability, how easy would it be for russia to get some
think of it as something in the sky. well, the cloud is really under the ocean. reporter: jonathan works with a company which monitors telecom infrastructures. he says there are hundreds of these cables stretching across the ocean floors, enough he says to span the global at the equator 15 times. he says if multiple under sea cables were cut at once, it could harm american business and government interests and could have even more catastrophic effects on europe. tonight, the pentagon won t confirm the concerns raised in the new york times. one u.s. official says while the russians could tamper with the cables, the u.s. hasn t seen a significant increase in russian activity where the cables are located. there is also been no evidence of any actual cable cutting. but newspaper reports say the russian ship which is equipped with submersibles capable of cutting cables has been spotted cruising in the atlantic not far from where one cable is located.