The United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR) has released a new report on 23. April 2025, Achieving Depth: Subsea Telecommunications Cables as Critical Infrastructure, co-authored by Jonas Franken, Research Associate at PEASEC. The publication is the result of a year-long project supported by UNIDIR’s Security and Technology Programme (SECTEC), and is co-authored alongside Dr. Camino Kavanagh (King’s College London) and Wenting He (UNIDIR).
Subsea fibre-optic telecommunications cables form the foundation of the global digital infrastructure, carrying over 99% of intercontinental data traffic. Despite their critical importance, these systems have historically received limited attention in national and international policy. This report addresses that gap, providing a detailed analysis of how various governments are approaching the designation and protection of subsea cables as critical infrastructures.
Drawing on a large amount of case studies, interviews with policymakers, industry experts, and existing academic literature, the 88-page report offers a conceptual framework based on resilience capacities: absorptive (prevention and robustness), restorative (response and recovery), and adaptive (learning and evolving). It explores how states are aligning infrastructure security and resilience with broader societal and strategic objectives, including digital transformation, economic development, and maritime security. This comprehensive, up-to-date collection of capacities can form the regulatory foundation of a Cable Security Toolbox as recently envisioned by the European Union.
The publication comes at a time of heightened geopolitical tension and increased attention to the vulnerabilities of undersea infrastructure, following incidents involving cable damage in the Baltic Sea, Red Sea, East China Sea and elsewhere. The report also highlights the growing complexity of the regulatory environment and the need for improved coordination between governments, industry, and international actors.
📘 Read the full report here: UNIDIR Publication Page
📄 Direct PDF download: UNIDIR Report PDF
See also:
- Jonas Franken, Thomas Reinhold, Timon Dörnfeld, Christian Reuter (2025) Hidden structures of a global infrastructure: Expansion factors of the subsea data cable network, Technological Forecasting and Social Change ;215:124068. doi:10.1016/j.techfore.2025.124068 [Download PDF]
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Jonas Franken, Christian Reuter (2024) The Subsea Data Cable Security Map – Fusing Public Information for Enhanced Critical Maritime Infrastructure Security (2024), MARESEC 2024, 10.5281/zenodo.14216269
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Jonas Franken, Franziska Schneider, Christian Reuter (2023) The Internet’s Plumbing Consists of Garden Hoses: A Critical Analysis of the Advantages and Pitfalls of Metaphors Use for Critical Maritime Infrastructures, Dreizack 23 Kiel. [Download PDF]
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Jonas Franken, Thomas Reinhold, Lilian Reichert, Christian Reuter (2022) The Digital Divide in State Vulnerability to Submarine Communications Cable Failure International Journal of Critical Infrastructure Protection (IJCIP) ;38(100522):1–15. doi:10.1016/j.ijcip.2022.100522 [Download PDF]
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Christian Bueger, Tobias Liebetrau, Jonas Franken (2022) Security threats to undersea communications cables and infrastructure – consequences for the EU Brussels: European Parliament. [Download PDF]