US Lawmakers Seek Tech CEOs Address Subsea Cable Security Risks

Three Republican House lawmakers—Carlos Gimenez, John Moolenaar, and Keith Self—have sent a letter to the CEOs of Alphabet, Meta, Amazon, and Microsoft, requesting detailed information on the security measures surrounding subsea cable systems in which these companies have direct or indirect involvement. These cables handle 99% of international internet traffic and have become a focal point of national security concerns due to potential threats from Chinese and Russian entities, including SBSS, Huawei Marine, China Telecom, and China Unicom, which have reportedly provided maintenance or servicing. The lawmakers are probing whether these foreign-affiliated entities have had access to cable construction, repair, or maintenance, and whether there have been any signs of hardware tampering, signal tapping, or operational irregularities. The letter also calls for briefings by early August and highlights the Federal Communications Commission’s plan to adopt rules banning Chinese technology in subsea cable systems connected to the U.S. This effort follows growing evidence of coordinated malign activities targeting subsea infrastructure in strategic regions such as the Baltic Sea and Indo-Pacific. The tech companies have yet to respond publicly, and the Chinese embassy has not commented on the inquiry.