The world is becoming increasingly aware of the need to protect and diversify the global internet infrastructure due to recent submarine cable sabotage. NATO’s HEIST project aims to overcome these challenges and prevent potential threats.
On February 18, 2024, an incident occurred in the Red Sea that exposed a critical vulnerability in the world’s internet infrastructure. A missile attack by Hussein militants on the cargo ship Rubymar caused it to damage and drift, during which the ship’s anchor severed three important fiber-optic cables. These cables carried about a quarter of all Internet traffic between Europe and Asia.Then, in November and December, there were several incidents of damage to cables laid on the seabed between Sweden and Lithuania. The incidents were a harsh reminder of the fragility of the undersea fiber-optic network that provides more than 95% of intercontinental Internet connectivity.
“They’re not buried when they cross an ocean. In the deep oceans, they’re as thick as a garden hose, and they’re pretty fragile,” said Tim Stronge, vice president of TeleGeography.
The global submarine cable network is approximately 1.2 million kilometers long and consists of 500-600 cables and is the backbone of the digital world. It not only provides the regular Internet, but also supports financial transactions worth about $10 trillion daily and transmits encrypted defense information.
In response to this threat, NATO initiated the HEIST (“Hybrid Space-Submarine Architecture Ensuring Infosec of Telecommunications”) project. It aims to develop strategies to protect global Internet traffic and create alternative paths in case of disruptions.
HEIST’s main tasks include:
- development of systems for rapid localization of cable faults with an accuracy of one meter;
- redirect high-priority traffic to satellites.
“The sustainability of connectivity depends on the diversity of pathways. We have to have something in the sky, not just on the seafloor,” said Gregory Falco, director of the NATO HEIST program and associate professor at Cornell University.
This initiative aims to ensure stable connectivity, which is critical to the modern world. Alternative routes and new technologies can be key elements of digital infrastructure protection.
Testing of the project will begin at the Blekinge Institute of Technology (BTH) in Karlskrona, Sweden in 2025.
While satellite channels offer a potential backup solution, they face significant data bandwidth limitations. Advanced fiber optic cables can operate at speeds of up to 340 Tbps, significantly higher than the 5 Gbps per second typically achieved via Ku-band satellite communications.
To eliminate this discrepancy, the HEIST team plans to explore higher bandwidth laser optical systems for satellite communications. Recent NASA experiments with optical communications have shown promising results, demonstrating the potential to transmit at least 40 times more data than traditional radio transmissions.
However, laser transmission is not free of problems. They can be easily distorted by atmospheric conditions such as clouds, haze or smoke and require accurate positioning. In addition, signal delay remains a problem, especially for satellites in higher orbits.
Earlier we reported on how Kyivstar was introducing Starlink satellite communications using direct-to-cell technology.
According to spectrum.ieee.org
