Session 3.7f: Update - Critical Links: Strategic and Technical Risk Assessment of Pacific Submarine Cable Infrastructure
Tracks
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| Thursday, November 20, 2025 |
| 2:30 PM - 3:30 PM |
| Swan Room |
Details
Submarine cables underpin 95% of intercontinental communications across the Pacific, forming a strategic backbone for national security, economic development, and allied interoperability. This presentation draws on Mercury Information Security Services’ recent analysis of submarine cable infrastructure across the Indo-Pacific to assess emerging risks to regional connectivity, operational resilience, and defence communications.
Using the PMESII-PT framework, the study identifies critical single points of failure—most notably, a single cable, which carries up to 85% of active bandwidth between Australia and the United States. The session will explore the analytical process that infotrmed this deduction and three high-impact threat scenarios, each with unique implications for Defence operations, regional stability, and sovereign control of communications infrastructure.
We present findings from OSINT reconnaissance, static firmware analysis, and physical site assessments of cable landing stations in Australia and the Pacific. Key vulnerabilities include outdated firmware, exposed wireless systems intergrated with sites, highlighting an urgent need for systemic resilience, sovereign fallback capabilities, and vendor assurance, and considerations for communication systems in the event of loss or degredation of links.
This talk will conclude with actionable recommendations for Defence and industry stakeholders, including securing critical nodes, diversifying connectivity, and elevating communications infrastructure to a strategic planning priority in future contested environments.
Speaker
Mr Edward Farrell
Director | Principal Consultant
Mercury Information security services pty ltd
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Biography
Edward Farrell is a seasoned security consultant with over 17years of experience in cybersecurity and 22 years in the technology sector. As the Director and Principal Consultant at Mercury Information Security Services, one of Australia's leading cybersecurity practices, he has led or overseen more than 1,400 security assessment activities and incident responses over the past ten years.
Edward's professional highlights include lecturing at the Australian Defence Force Academy, being recognized among the top 200 bug bounty hunters in 2015, and leading a team of dedicated security professionals.
In addition to his civilian career, Edward serves as an Army Reserve officer with 17 years of service in the Australian Defence Force.
He is also an accredited IRAP assessor and has contributed to the development of cybersecurity training for the Australian Defence Force.
