Iran threatens to charge undersea cable operators in Strait of Hormuz, highlighting vulnerability of global internet infrastructure

Last week, Iranian state-linked media floated a plan to charge the operators of undersea internet cables in the Strait of Hormuz for access to what they say is Iran's offshore territory.

The suggestion comes after Iranian warnings that several important cables in the strait were a vulnerable point for economies in the Middle East.

Iran's comments expose an invisible foundation of the internet and globalization itself: the web of more than 500 undersea cables that carries more than 95% of international data traffic.

We may think the internet lives in a kind of virtual cloud. But its physical infrastructure is far more tangible and vulnerable than most realize.