A new US government-advised report ranks Pacific internet cables by sabotage risk. Cable projects tied to Google, Meta and Verizon land in the top five.
A new risk ranking of undersea internet cables across the Pacific puts three cable projects with big US company backing in its top five for risk. They are tied to Google, Meta and Verizon. The report points to China's activity near the cables, with the highest risk around Taiwan, Japan and the Philippines.
The report was published in September 2026 by the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission, an independent government commission that advises Congress. It was written by the China Strategic Risks Institute, a London think tank. Its authors built an interactive index that ranks the most at-risk cables and maps their routes.
The index weighs how deep the cable lies, how much ship traffic is nearby, who owns it, China's territorial claims, and whether it connects to Taiwan. Risk is highest near Taiwan, Japan and the Philippines. Cables there must cross shallow water and busy shipping lanes.
Several of the 10 most at-risk cables are still under development.
Most cable damage is accidental. Fishing nets, dragging anchors, storms and undersea landslides cause most of it. But analysts now watch for "gray zone" tactics, meaning hostile acts that stop short of open military conflict. The report warns that losing one cable could overwhelm direct routes between the US, Taiwan, Japan and the Philippines, pushing data onto slower paths.
Losing several cables during a crisis over Taiwan could strain trans-Pacific capacity as a whole. The report says that could have major consequences for internet communications, cloud services and financial trading.
A separate October 2026 report from the Center for Strategic and International Studies looked at more than 200 research ships from several nations between 2020 and 2025. China-flagged research ships stood out for the time they spent near undersea infrastructure. Several followed survey-style tracks near cables instead of working in areas known for mineral deposits.
Chinese-owned fishing boats and cargo ships have also been involved in cable-cutting incidents, especially near Taiwan. In 2025, Taiwan convicted a Chinese captain and sentenced him to three years in prison. His ship dropped anchor and moved in a zigzag pattern that damaged the Tai-Peng 3 cable, which links Taiwan to the Penghu islands.
Similar worries exist elsewhere. Russian- and Chinese-linked ships have been investigated over damage in the Baltic Sea. The Telegraph reported more than 500 incidents of Russian fishing boats loitering near cables linking the UK to the world. Iran has threatened to charge US tech firms fees for cables under the Strait of Hormuz.
The Pacific report is a ranking of risk, not a list of attacks. The material does not say any of the named cables has been damaged, and nothing in it says the research ships harmed a cable. Several of the top-ranked cables are not yet finished, so their final routes and protection plans may matter.
A Pacific cable failure could slow cloud tools, calls and payments far from the ocean, and a new report says the riskiest routes sit near Taiwan, Japan and the Philippines.
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