Underseas cables have already become a target of terrorist attacks

Undersea cable expert Douglas R. Burnett argues that "it is naYve to assume that submarine-cable landing stations, cables, the cable ships, and the marine depots that maintain the systems will escape asymmetric terrorist acts,"" and recent cases have proven that Burnett's concern is not unfounded. In 2007, "piracy was blamed in the theft of active submarine cables and equipment" off the coast of Vietnam." "In early 2008, over the course of just a few days, multiple cables were cut off the coasts of Egypt and Dubai," causing at least fourteen countries to lose a significant amount of data traffic." The "Maldives was entirely disconnectedfromtherestoftheworld."⁶⁰ Theshorttimespanandclose proximity of these cuts raised suspicions of a deliberate attack.⁶¹ Most recently, in June 2010, terrorists in the Philippines struck an international cable.⁶² The public location of the cables and their lack of sophisticated armor or protection make them incredibly vulnerable to intentional attacks.