US agency to vote to launch review of undersea cable vulnerabilities

FILE PHOTO: Kevin Pollard ties down a 15,000-pound undersea cable for transportation to Brazil, at Dulles International Airport in Virginia, June 8, 2009. REUTERS/Oscar Sosa/U.S. Navy/Handout/File Photo

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Federal Communications Commission said on Wednesday it will vote next month to review the security of the global network of undersea communications cables that handle nearly all the world's internet traffic.

FCC Chair Jessica Rosenworcel said "over the past two decades, the technology, economics, and security challenges involving these systems have greatly changed, but FCC oversight has not."

"The commission will vote to undertake the first major comprehensive review of our submarine cable rules since 2001," she said. The FCC is considering new rules to ensure the national security impacts of undersea cables that handle more than 95% of international internet traffic.

(Reporting by David Shepardson; editing by Jonathan Oatis)