UK government urges companies to work with it on protecting undersea cables

{"text":[[{"start":10.19,"text":"The UK government is pressing companies to work with it more closely on protecting undersea cables from Russia."}],[{"start":18.08,"text":"Defence secretary John Healey gathered business leaders from telecoms giants including Vodafone and BT, as well as defence companies, last Friday to discuss the matter."}],[{"start":31.43,"text":"“We need to develop a strong sense of mission together to tackle rising threats to critical undersea infrastructure,” he told the roundtable event."}],[{"start":41.36,"text":"It came after Healey last Thursday exposed a covert Russian military operation in and around UK waters. Three Russian submarines were detected in the north Atlantic loitering over critical undersea cables, he said in a press conference in Westminster."}],[{"start":59.96,"text":"The network of cables and pipelines that run under the sea transmit half the gas that heats British homes and 99 per cent of international telecoms and data traffic, according to the Ministry of Defence."}],[{"start":74.3,"text":"Healey told the business leaders at the meeting: “This infrastructure is critical to our homeland security and critical to the UK economy . . . It’s not just a job for the military, it’s how we step up together: the military, the rest of government and industry.” "}],[{"start":92.3,"text":"The discussion focused on practical ways in which the MoD can deepen its partnership with industry to protect subsea infrastructure, with proposals raised to work together on shared risk assessments, according to people familiar with the conversation."}],[{"start":null,"text":"

"}],[{"start":110.19,"text":"The meeting highlighted examples from Norway and Sweden, where many large companies increasingly accept that they have responsibility for some elements of security, the people added. "}],[{"start":121.53,"text":"Officials hope that the role corporations can play in assuring national security can become as well-established a principle as the responsibility companies have to protect the environment. "}],[{"start":134.46,"text":"Joakim Reiter, chief external and corporate affairs officer at Vodafone, said: “The UK is a major global player in subsea cables. Protecting them is critical to every country’s national and economic security.”"}],[{"start":148.49,"text":"Closer co-operation between Britain and European allies would also help “strengthen the resilience of this essential infrastructure” as the threat evolves, Reiter added."}],[{"start":161.03,"text":"The importance of safeguarding undersea critical national infrastructure is growing as concerns grip government about Russia’s escalating aggression in the High North."}],[{"start":172.81,"text":"Last week Healey announced an extra £100mn for P-8 submarine-hunting aircraft. The Royal Navy is meanwhile working towards the creation of a hybrid force that incorporates the widespread use of underwater drones and other autonomous systems to help secure the north Atlantic against increased Russian submarine and underwater threats."}],[{"start":197.89,"text":"Last autumn the UK government was accused of being “too timid” in defending its vulnerable undersea internet cables from attack in a report by the Joint Committee on the National Security Strategy, a cross-party group of MPs and peers."}],[{"start":214.08999999999997,"text":"British officials insist that the UK network is highly resilient and that in the event of a cable break, data can be instantly rerouted through other cables thanks to commercial agreements between cable operators."}],[{"start":228.71999999999997,"text":"It takes an average response time of eight days to repair a UK cable, which is among the fastest response times globally, according to the MoD. "}],[{"start":248.39,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1776081045_7213.mp3"}