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   Startup wants to mitigate risk of state-actor underwater fibre optic cable   
   sabotage by using a decades-old technique   
      
   Date:   
   Sat, 22 Mar 2025 06:03:00 +0000   
      
   Description:   
   Subsea fibre optic cables face growing security threats, driving demand for   
   advanced monitoring solutions.   
      
   FULL STORY   
   ======================================================================   
    - Distributed acoustic sensing detects disturbances in fibre optic signals   
   to identify underwater threats   
    - NATOs Baltic Sentry mission enhances subsea security, but surveillance   
   remains difficult   
    - AP Sensings North Sea deployment highlights fibre optics role in security   
      
   Subsea fibre optic cables are a crucial part of global internet   
   infrastructure, yet recent damage incidents in the Baltic Sea have raised   
   concerns about their security.    
      
   Per the BBC , there are now efforts to mitigate the risk of sabotage by using   
   a decades-old technique known as distributed acoustic sensing (DAS).    
      
   This approach detects disturbances in fibre optic signals by capturing tiny   
   reflections sent back along the strands due to pulses from light encountering   
   vibrations or temperature changes, allowing the system to identify suspicious   
   activity such as underwater drones, vessels dragging anchors, or divers near   
   critical cables.   
      
   How fibre optics can 'listen' for threats    
      
   As with network security, where businesses rely on the best small business   
   routers to prevent cyber threats, monitoring solutions for subsea   
   infrastructure are becoming essential in safeguarding global communications.    
      
   Lane Burdette, a research analyst at TeleGeography, notes that the number of   
   faults affecting subsea cables each year has remained steady, typically   
   between 1 and 200. "Cables break all the timeThe number of cable faults per   
   year has really held steady over the last several years."    
      
   During tests conducted by AP Sensing, the system detected a diver patting a   
   cable on the seabed, while further experiments demonstrated its ability to   
   identify drones and vessels, potentially providing early warnings of sabotage   
   attempts.    
      
   "He stops and just touches the cable lightly, you clearly see the    
   signal...The acoustic energy which travels through the fibre is basically   
   disturbing our signal. We can measure this disturbance," says Daniel Gerwig,   
   global sales manager at AP Sensing, a German technology company.    
      
   Just as businesses depend on the best business smartphones for real-time   
   alerts and security updates, early warning systems for subsea cables can   
   provide critical intelligence to prevent disruptions.    
      
   Concerns over the vulnerability of these cables have led NATO to launch   
   "Baltic Sentry," a mission using warships, drones, and aircraft to monitor   
   activity in the region, but since constant surveillance is not always   
   possible, demand for fibre optic acoustic sensing solutions is growing.    
      
   "It's good that Nato and the European Union have woken upThe question is how   
   quickly you could establish contact with a vessel," said Thorsten Benner,   
   co-founder and director of the Global Public Policy Institute.    
      
   Maintaining secure communications in this environment requires the same level   
   of reliability as the best network switches , ensuring smooth data flow and   
   minimal disruption.    
      
   Companies such as Optics11 and Viavi Solutions are seeing increased interest   
   in their monitoring technology, which can be deployed on military submarines   
   or along key underwater infrastructure routes.    
      
   AP Sensings system is already in use in parts of the North Sea, but the   
   technology has limitations, requiring signal interrogation points at regular   
   intervals along the cable and having a sensing range of only a few hundred   
   metres, meaning it can detect nearby threats but is not a complete security   
   solution on its own.   
      
   ======================================================================   
   Link to news story:   
   https://www.techradar.com/pro/startup-wants-to-mitigate-risk-of-state-actor-un   
   derwater-fibre-optic-cable-sabotage-by-using-a-decades-old-technique   
      
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