In light of the recent undersea cable incidents in the Baltic Sea, Deputy National Security Advisor for Cyber and Emerging Technology Anne Neuberger spoke with her Nordic-Baltic counterparts from Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, and Sweden to deepen cooperation on protecting undersea cables.
The meeting participants affirmed the need to deepen practical cooperation through NATO and to jointly implement the New York Joint Statement on the Security and Resilience of Undersea Cables in a Globally Digitalized World, the principles of which outline a shared global approach to ensure the reliability, interoperability, and resiliency for the deployment, operations, and repair and maintenance of undersea cable communications networks. All participants shared concerns about the range of threats to the security of undersea cable infrastructure whether communication networks or energy, recognizing the critical importance of this infrastructure to nearly every aspect of essential public services, international commerce, and digital economic prosperity.
In their discussion, the participants emphasized the importance of enhancing public-private cooperation to improve regional security in addition to other efforts to protect critical undersea infrastructure, and discussed the following areas:
- Harmonize and develop channels and procedures for sharing real-time situational awareness and incident information within national governments, across Allies, and between public and private sector stakeholders, including incorporating private sector disruption notifications,
- Identify opportunities for public-private partnerships to improve repair and maintenance fleet capacity, including through security of supply chain mechanisms, consortium investment and development funding mechanisms;
- Encourage commercial cable operators, where possible, to establish a repository or database to collect and share information between operators regarding accidental cable faults/damage, completed repair work, time taken to repair, and reasons for any repair delays;
- Streamline equipment import/export processes and allow for faster transportation of necessary commercial equipment to facilitate repairs, as appropriate/necessary; and
The participants intend to increase coordination in these areas through NATO, ongoing U.S.-Nordic-Baltic consultations, and all other relevant fora between Allies and partners.
