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Morning Brew

Houthis could literally be cutting off the internet

A rendering of an undersea internet cable. Serg Myshkovsky/Getty Images

Singaporeans struggling to send memes to their pals in Paris might have Yemen’s Houthi rebels to blame. The militant group that’s been attacking cargo ships in international waters off the coast of Yemen is now being accused of disrupting global internet traffic.

Four underwater internet cables in the Red Sea were cut recently, Hong Kong telecoms company HGC Global Communications said yesterday.

• Just as with shipping, the Red Sea is a major passageway for the internet, with more than 15 undersea cables connecting Europe, Asia, and the Middle East.
• The cuts worsened internet connection in India, Pakistan, and East Africa, internet network analyst Doug Madory told WSJ. Though internet providers have rerouted traffic, repairs won’t begin until at least next month, and HGC said about a quarter of online data that passes through the the affected area.

While the Houthis have denied involvement and experts say a ship might’ve caused the damage, Yemen’s government-in-exile warned last month that the insurgents could target the cables. No matter the cause, the incident is a reminder that the Red Sea is what Wired once called “arguably, the internet’s most vulnerable place on Earth.”

Internet chokepoint

A few cables may sound minor, but despite the hype around Starlink’s satellite-enabled internet, physical subsea wires still make the online world go round, as they’re the cheapest and fastest way to send data.

• Over 99% of internet traffic between continents is transmitted via hundreds of undersea cables, according to CNET.
• Tech giants like Google, Facebook, and Microsoft have been building new ones, which can cost up to $350 million a pop, per the NYT.

The Red Sea is a big part of that: It sits at the nexus of a global sea-floor cable network, with its shallow waters serving as a conduit for about 17% of global internet traffic, per Data Center Dynamics.

Looking ahead…the cable cuts cast a shadow over the six additional sub-Red Sea cables that internet infrastructure expert Tim Stronge told the Associated Press are currently being built to expand the network.—SK