wiredInUSA January 2018

Undersea, under attack?

Swiss acquisition

Rishi Sunak MP

Huber+Suhner is to acquire fellow Swiss company Inwave Elektronik AG. According to a statement from Huber+Suhner, Inwave Elektronik AG specializes in microwave and RF-over-fiber solutions. The latter is the conversion of radio frequency to analog fiber optic signals and vice versa, often used in GPS solutions. Huber+Suhner describes the acquisition as “specifically to strengthen its expertise in the radio frequency systems business”. Inwave Elektronik AG is an owner- managed company with four employees. Huber+Suhner expects to complete the integration of the company into its radio frequency division in Herisau by the end of 2018. No information has yet been released regarding the plans for the company’s management in the future. In addition to radio frequency systems, Inwave Elektronik specializes in fiber optics and low frequency technologies to create solutions for communication, transportation and industrial applications.

A report, written by UK Conservative MP Rishi Sunak for the Policy Exchange think tank, describes the undersea cables that form the backbone of the UK’s Internet infrastructure as “at high risk from attack”. The study warns that if such an attack managed to disrupt the UK’s worldwide Internet connection it would deal a “crippling blow” to the country’s security and economy. While 97 percent of global communications are transmitted through fiber optic cables they remain “uniquely vulnerable” to sabotage. Despite their importance, the report said the cables were often poorly protected, their locations publicly known, and they come ashore at just a few remote landing sites in the UK. However, their importance is acknowledged with US intelligence officials aware that when Russia annexed Crimea, one of its first moves was to sever the main cable connection to the outside world. In April 2017 Spanish and Brazilian governments launched a project to lay an undersea cable in the Atlantic Ocean to reduce their own reliance on the USA for routing communications.

wiredInUSA - January 2018

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