Subsea‑cable extortion as hybrid warfare

States or proxies may monetize or threaten physical damage to undersea communications cables — not just ships or pipelines — to extract political concessions or revenue. Targeting cables can cascade into banking, cloud services and trade, creating leverage without traditional territorial occupation. — If weaponizing subsea cables becomes a durable tactic, governments, companies and sanctions regimes will need new legal, technical and diplomatic defenses to protect global digital infrastructure.