Executive Summary

Submarine cables are the essential infrastructure that enables the modern global economy, carrying over 95% of international data traffic and supporting everything from financial transactions to cloud services. As the world becomes more digitally interconnected and geopolitical tensions escalate, the resilience and security of these critical systems face increasing risks. In response, this paper proposes a comprehensive action plan to drive the security and resilience of submarine cable infrastructure through stronger public-private collaboration and more effective policy frameworks.

The private sector has long prioritized resilience and risk mitigation. Companies invest heavily in redundancy, and route diversity, to ensure continuity of service, even in challenging environments. But sustained cooperation with governments is essential to ensure regulatory environments enable, rather than hinder, the deployment, maintenance, and protection of this foundational infrastructure.

Public and private stakeholders have recently demonstrated its shared commitment to protecting undersea cable infrastructure. The New York Joint Statement on the Security and Resilience of Undersea Cables in a Globally Digitalized World (“New York Principles”)1 signed by 17 countries in September 2024, reflects growing international consensus around this issue. While high-level, the Principles identify important areas for cooperation, including the need to deepen public-private collaboration.

To be effective, these high-level commitments must be supported by tangible activities. Industry has long prioritized the resilience of submarine cable systems, applying best practices to mitigate relevant risks. Governments should view industry not only as a critical stakeholder, but as a proactive partner already working to secure this infrastructure. Moving forward, stronger collaboration is essential to ensure that regulatory environments support, rather than hinder, the deployment and maintenance of undersea cables.

This paper seeks to provide recommendations on action for the Principles, leveraging the resources and roles of the private and governmental sectors. Specifically, this paper offers concrete ideas for enhancing the resilience of the global submarine cable ecosystem primarily through greater route diversity and redundancy, rapid repair capacity, and secure supply chains.

This can be further enhanced by bolstering the security of individual cables against physical, technical, and supply chain threats; and establishing legal and institutional frameworks that improve risk awareness and deter disruptive activity, ultimately reducing disruptions of this critical infrastructure.

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