Is Your Internet Safe? NATO’s $2.5M Satellite Project Takes on Undersea Cables Threats

In an era where digital connectivity underpins global communications and economies, NATO is taking bold steps to protect the internet from potential sabotage. The organization is funding an innovative project to reroute internet traffic through satellites. This will ensure continued connectivity in times of crisis in case undersea cables are compromised.

This $2.5 million initiative, called Project HEIST (High-speed Emergency Internet Satellite Transmission), is partially funded by NATO’s Science for Peace and Security Programme with a grant of up to $433,600. It brings together researchers from the United States, Iceland, Sweden, and Switzerland, along with private sector partners like Icelandic cybersecurity company Syndis and US-based Viasat and Sierra Space. Their mission is to develop a seamless method of redirecting internet traffic from subsea cables to satellite systems in the event of an attack or natural disaster.

The project’s urgency stems from rising geopolitical tensions and recent incidents targeting undersea infrastructure. In February, Yemeni Houthi rebels were suspected of damaging Red Sea cables responsible for 17% of global internet traffic. Similarly, Sweden reported “purposeful” damage to a Baltic subsea cable linking it to Estonia in October.

What Does the Project Include?

1. Improved threat detection: Researchers aim to enhance the precision of identifying cable disturbances from the current kilometer-level accuracy to meter-level precision.
2. Regulatory challenges: The team will spend two years testing prototypes and navigating complex international regulations before creating an operational system.

Project HEIST aims to create a robust detection and response system. The technology under development will be capable of identifying disturbances on cables with meter-level precision. Upon detecting a threat, the system will automatically divert traffic to satellite bandwidth, ensuring continuous connectivity. The initial two-year phase of the project will focus on prototype testing and navigating the complex landscape of international regulations. One of the project’s key testing grounds will be an underwater site near Karlskrona, Sweden’s largest naval base, where high-voltage cables are present.

The stakes are high, with NATO reporting that nearly all of its internet traffic and about $10 trillion in financial transactions rely on undersea cables. Recent events, such as the massive internet outage in West and Central Africa in March, underscore the potential impact of cable failures.

This project aligns with broader efforts to protect critical undersea infrastructure. NATO has established a center to coordinate best practices following the Nord Stream 2 pipeline explosion in September 2022. The European Commission has also called for improved security and resilience of undersea cables in light of increasing global tensions.