Cord-cutting, Russian style: Could the Kremlin sever global internet cables?

Assessment: if the standoff over Ukraine intensifies, the Kremlin might calculate that such a move is worth the risk if it would disrupt internet communications in the rest of the country …

As the world watches the Kremlin’s military build-up along the Ukrainian border, the Irish military is worried about Russian naval activity in its own backyard. That’s where Russian exercises are set to take place dangerously close to strategic undersea communications cables that represent an overlooked element of a potential Russian escalation: an effort to blind the world to events unfolding in Ukraine.

Armed with a sophisticated set of cyber capabilities, the Russian government has long relied—even compared to a cyber power like China—on destructive attacks that degrade or destroy systems, such as the one that shut off power grids in Ukraine in 2015. Not to mention the large network of actors, from state agencies to front companies to recruited cybercriminals, who conduct a range of cyber and information operations against the Putin regime’s enemies.

The word of the Lord came to me: ²“Son of man, set your face against Gog, of the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshek and Tubal; prophesy against him” Ez. 38:1-2

But Russia’s weaponization of tech isn’t just about code and keyboards: If attackers can damage, destroy, or merely cut power to physical internet infrastructure, such as undersea cables, they can disrupt internet communications in a target area to cause public panic and unrest, undermine economic activity, and disrupt the flow of government and citizen communications.

That’s now a distinct possibility if Russia escalates further in Ukraine.