The U.S. State Department – which works with other countries to make sure that undersea communications cables are secure against meddling – is prioritizing the further development of “trusted undersea cables” as cybersecurity threats from China and other adversaries continue to grow, the agency’s top cybersecurity official said on Sept. 3.
Despite having the world’s largest technology market capitalization, the U.S. can no longer “go anywhere” and “must build partnerships” globally to ensure cyber readiness, said Nathaniel Fick, ambassador at large for the State Department’s Bureau of Cyberspace and Digital Policy, at the 2024 Billington CyberSecurity Summit in Washington.
Fick talked about ongoing efforts for the development of trusted undersea cables that will extend from Chile, Australia, Taiwan and Japan, while including Pacific Island countries along the way.
“If you think about the full tech ecosystem when we’re talking about cybersecurity […] what we’re saying is that the underlying architectures are fundamentally trusted, if not secure, at least trusted,” Fick said about the undersea cable infrastructure.
Undersea cables carry 95 percent of the world’s digital traffic and the disruption or destruction of cables through natural disasters or cyberattacks can “isolate a county, threaten national security, and result in billions of dollars of damage to the economy,” according to the State Department.
“Choices made about which vendors to rely on for undersea cable infrastructure, maintenance, and repair operations can either drive development and innovation or lead to new forms of dependency and insecurity,” the agency said.
“There are not a ton of places in the world where you have the advantage of a greenfield opportunity,” said Fick of the undersea cable extension efforts.
The State Department in recent years has pushed to improve connectivity and security throughout the East Asia Pacific region with the implementation of the CABLES program in 2021, which provides information and guidance on the “perils” of choosing untrusted suppliers.
Unnamed State Department sources told the Wall Street Journal earlier this year that undersea cables could be vulnerable to espionage and tampering by Chinese repair ships.
In 2023, the State Department announced its current $65 million investment to fund undersea cable connectivity for Pacific Island countries in partnership with Australia. The Humboldt subsea cable route between Chile and Australia was announced in January.
Other initiatives to increase security and geopolitical strength through cyber diplomacy include encouraging allies to innovate in core technologies. “It’s hugely in the national interest of the United States to have thriving, vibrant tech economies, where U.S. companies are building partnerships,” Fick said this week.
