This reporting was probably stimulated by the publication two weeks ago by a Policy Exchange (PX) 48 pgs. report 'Undersea Cables: Indispensable, insecure' by a Conservative MP, Rishi Sunak (PX is a right wing think tank).
Link:https://policyexchange.org.uk/wp-con...sea-Cables.pdf

When you read the paper the biggest current threat is not Russian sabotage (or Chinese in the South China Sea), but fishing trawlers damaging the cables 100-150 times per year.

For the US military there is an issue, the reliance on cables to pass the very high data load for drone operations; cables severed in the Mediterranean in 2008 drastically reduced deployments.

There are only a very small number of "choke points" at sea and on land, which make the system vulnerable. Notably this one:
The location is the single cross‑connect for all cable traffic between Africa, Europe, and Asia. 80% of all European to Middle Eastern connectivity passes through this one building.
Which is in Alexandria, Egypt.

Two BBC reports, one "beating the drum" for this old problem, which has a small map of the cables routes:http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-42365191 and a historical piece on WW1 cutting of cables:http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-42367551