ONE of the region's MPs is leading calls for the UK to do more to protect the indispensable yet insecure internet infrastructure provided by undersea cables.

Richmond's Tory MP Rishi Sunak makes the call in a new report published by leading think-tank Policy Exchange.

He points out that 97 per cent of global communications and $10 trillion in daily financial transactions are transmitted not by satellites, but by cables lying deep beneath the ocean.

Yet he says that, although essential, they are inadequately protected and highly vulnerable to attack at sea and on land, from both hostile states and terrorists.

US intelligence officials have spoken of Russian submarines “aggressively operating” near Atlantic cables as part of its broader interest in unconventional methods of warfare - and when Russia annexed Crimea, one of its first moves was to sever the main cable connection to the outside world.

The cables come ashore in remote, coastal locations and Mr Sunak said: “A successful attack on the UK’s undersea cable infrastructure would be an existential threat to our security. Yet the exact locations of these cables are both isolated and publicly available – jugulars of the world economy which are a singularly attractive target for our enemies."