This may include adverts from us and 3rd parties based on our understanding. It came after Ireland revealed that it was not protecting the subsea cables due to a gap in its defence policy. They say it has left the data connectors open to attack and vulnerable to espionage. The apparent issue was merged with a debate on defence last week between Simon Coveney, the foreign affairs minister, and John Brady, Sinn Fein spokesman for defence.
Mr Coveney said that the sea cables are not at the moment the legal responsibility of the Irish navy service, but acknowledged that defence forces have limited subsurface surveillance capabilities. It emerged that the cables are the responsibility of the gardia force, which is responsible for the enforcement of the 2004 Maritime Security Act. They have no capacity to fulfill the role, according to a report. There are currently four cables connecting the island to the US and eight connecting the island to Britain.
Ireland is expected to become directly linked to Norway, Denmark, Iceland and France in the coming years. Many companies such as Facebook, Twitter, Amazon, and Google rely on cables to transmit large amounts of data from Irish servers around the world. In the past year, Ireland has seen a significant increase in the activities of Russian armed forces in Irish territory, according to the Times. The Yantar, a Russian spy ship built to carry out clandestine undersea missions, was monitored off the Donegal-Mayo coastline in August. In July a large ship was discovered engaged in similar activities close to a subsea cable. READ MORE: China's emission fall post-Covid recovery in 'turning point' against climate change
Russian submarines are also said to be operating off the west coast, targeting undersea cables by placing devices near them to intercept data and communications. This is an issue of great importance, according to Brady. There are vessels entering Ireland's exclusive economic zone that we don't have the ability to monitor. We have no idea what is happening beneath the surface. We don't know if devices are being fitted to these data cables or if they are being interfered with. He said that the gardai are not able to conduct operations at sea but neither are the navy due to the lack of resources and ongoing issues over recruitment. Brady added: We have a sea mass ten times larger than our landmass, which has only one naval vessel out at sea due to lack of resources. Putin to strengthen military coordination with China against West LATEST South China SeaChina Sea conflict: The five nations that are disputing the region MAP US-China tensions: Biden asks Taiwan to join a'summit for democracy' REPORT Can you imagine the gardai patrolling the country in a single squad car? Keir Giles, an expert in Russian information warfare, said Russia has undertaken an intensive programme of investigation to find vulnerabilities around the world, not just under the sea, but also satellites, fibre-optic links and other telecoms networks. Russia will look for the most vulnerable points on networks to achieve its objectives, regardless of whether or not it is located in the target country. Unguarded networks are an open invitation to Russian intervention. John Sipher, the former head of the CIA's national clandestine service, said it was naive to believe that Russia would not take advantage of access to these undersea cables. He said that Russian intelligence and subversion is ongoing and relentless.