On September 6, 2025, a critical incident unfolded beneath the waves of the Red Sea, sending ripples through the digital fabric connecting continents. At precisely 05:45 UTC, undersea fiber optic cables—vital arteries of global internet traffic—were cut, disrupting connectivity for millions across Asia, the Middle East, and beyond. This was not just a minor technical hiccup; it was a reminder of how fragile the backbone of our interconnected world can be.
Microsoft, whose Azure cloud platform is a cornerstone for countless businesses and governments, was among the first to sound the alarm. According to its Azure status page, “network traffic traversing through the Middle East may experience increased latency due to undersea fiber cuts in the Red Sea.” While the company rerouted data through alternative paths, users in the region quickly noticed slower speeds and lag. Microsoft assured its customers that “network traffic that does not traverse through the Middle East is not impacted,” and promised daily updates or more frequent communications if the situation changed. The last update, posted at 22:33 UTC on September 6, 2025, emphasized the ongoing nature of the disruption.
The heart of the issue lies in the Red Sea’s unique geography. This narrow maritime corridor is a strategic chokepoint, carrying approximately 17% of global internet traffic between Europe, Asia, and Africa. Multiple major cable systems—including the South East Asia–Middle East–Western Europe 4 (SMW4) and the India-Middle East-Western Europe (IMEWE) cables—run side by side along the seabed, making the region a single point of failure for global connectivity. NetBlocks, an organization that monitors internet access, reported that “a series of subsea cable outages in the Red Sea has degraded internet connectivity in multiple countries,” citing India and Pakistan among those most affected. Pakistan Telecommunications Co. Ltd. confirmed the cuts in a statement on September 6, 2025.
For internet users in the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, and surrounding nations, the impact was immediate. Customers of state-owned networks like Du and Etisalat in the UAE flooded social media with complaints about sluggish service. Yet, official acknowledgment from regional governments was notably absent, a silence that only fueled speculation and concern.
But how do such disruptions happen? Subsea cables are marvels of modern engineering, robust yet surprisingly vulnerable. They can be severed accidentally—say, by a ship’s anchor dragging along the seabed—or deliberately, as part of covert or overt acts of sabotage. The Red Sea, already a hotspot for geopolitical tension, has seen both. In February 2024, attacks on commercial shipping in the area resulted in damage to four major cables, affecting a staggering 25% of data traffic between Asia and Europe. According to academic research cited by Microsoft and other sources, these cables have been “among the most stable interfaces between continents over the past two centuries,” but their stability is now under threat.
Yemen’s Houthi rebels, backed by Iran, loom large in this story. From November 2023 to December 2024, the Houthis targeted more than 100 ships in the Red Sea with missiles and drones, sinking four vessels and killing at least eight mariners. While the group has denied directly attacking undersea cables, their campaign has heightened regional instability and raised alarm bells about the security of critical infrastructure. Yemen’s internationally recognized government in exile has accused the Houthis of planning to sabotage the cables, but the rebels have consistently denied responsibility, instead blaming U.S. and British military strikes for any damage.
Repairing these vital lines is no easy feat. The process requires specialized ships and highly trained crews, and can cost between $1 and $3 million per incident, according to the International Cable Protection Committee (ICPC). With a global repair fleet of only about 80 vessels—most of which focus on installing new systems rather than emergency repairs—restoration times have been creeping upward. In 2023, the average repair time hit 40 days. In conflict zones like the Red Sea, diplomatic and security hurdles can drag out the process even further.
The economic implications are staggering. Submarine cables carry an estimated 99% of international data traffic, enabling everything from high-frequency financial trading to cloud computing and real-time video streaming. In just one day, transactions routed through these cables can total around $1 trillion, underlining why even a brief disruption can cause economic ripples across continents. The recent incident forced Microsoft and other providers to reroute data through longer, less efficient paths—sometimes across Russia or around Africa—introducing significant latency and straining network capacity. Content delivery networks scrambled to adjust, and digital marketing operations faced challenges as real-time bidding and programmatic advertising systems struggled to keep up.
The vulnerabilities exposed by the Red Sea incident are not unique. In March 2024, an underwater landslide off Côte d'Ivoire damaged four cables, disrupting connectivity in at least sixteen Central and West African countries and leaving multiple Nigerian banks offline. The repair bill reached $8 million, and the outage highlighted how concentrated cable routes can magnify the impact of a single event—be it natural or human-made.
Geopolitical tensions are making matters worse. Intelligence assessments suggest that both Russia and China possess the capabilities—and perhaps the intent—to target undersea cables as part of broader hybrid warfare strategies. Ships linked to these nations have been caught dragging anchors over critical infrastructure, often under suspicious circumstances. The dual-use nature of some “research” vessels allows for both legitimate scientific work and covert mapping or manipulation of cable networks. The legal and diplomatic challenges of attributing such acts only embolden potential attackers.
Meanwhile, China’s growing dominance in the submarine cable manufacturing and installation market adds another layer of complexity. State-owned giants like HMN Technologies and China Telecom now control significant portions of the global supply chain, raising concerns among Western governments about surveillance, technological dependence, and the potential for strategic leverage in future disputes. In the South China Sea, for example, cable projects have become tools for asserting sovereignty over contested waters.
Recognizing the stakes, NATO and the European Union have established joint working groups and coordination cells to bolster the protection of undersea infrastructure. But as the Red Sea incident shows, international cooperation is only part of the solution. Diversifying cable routes, investing in repair capacity, and enhancing real-time surveillance are all critical steps—but none are easy or quick fixes, especially in regions where geography and politics conspire to keep vulnerabilities high.
The September 2025 Red Sea cable cuts are a stark reminder that the digital world’s foundations lie in the physical realm—and that even the most advanced technologies are only as strong as the weakest link in the chain. As repair crews set out to mend the broken lines, governments and businesses alike are left grappling with a sobering question: How can we safeguard the invisible infrastructure that powers our daily lives?
