00:00Deep beneath the ocean's waves, out of sight for most, lies the heart of global trade and
00:05communication. And it's more at risk than ever. Undersea fiber optic cables carry nearly all
00:15intercontinental internet traffic, moving about $10 trillion in financial transactions every
00:21single day. Another 20,000 miles of seabed pipelines pushes oil and gas across the globe.
00:27Analysts at the Center for Maritime Strategy say new technology is making once-secure systems
00:34easier to target. Modified commercial ships and both manned and unmanned deep diving craft
00:41can now reach and damage cables or pipelines in waters once thought unreachable. Recent breaks
00:49near Taiwan, in the Baltic Sea, and off Norway, in some cases traced back to Chinese or Russian-linked
00:55vessels, raised plenty of alarms. Beijing claimed at least one was an accident. Patent records show
01:03Chinese engineers designed tools to sever cables quickly and cheaply. There's no evidence those
01:10devices are in use, but their existence shows what's possible. The scale of protecting these
01:16systems is enormous, with more than 750,000 miles of cables worldwide and limited naval resources to
01:25guard it all. Analysts say the focus may shift to key choke points, like the Malacca Strait or
01:31Bab-Al-Mandeb, where multiple systems converge. There is also a push for more offshore and satellite
01:38surveillance, more unmanned patrols, and tighter allied coordination. Some say the deterrence should
01:45also go beyond the sea, raising the cost of any attack. Recent events showed, though, that without
01:52stronger action, the threat to seabed infrastructure, and the economies it all supports, will only grow.
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