Network Resiliency: Managing Environmental & Cyber Risks to the Network | Corning

Barry Walton
Published: February 19, 2026

How well prepared are you for disaster? Better yet, how prepared is your network? As technology evolves, the definition of “disaster preparedness” has expanded, and resiliency is no longer just about defending against natural disasters like hurricanes and ice storms.

As potential damage from cyberattacks, vandalism, and other threats emerge, network resilience should be viewed as an always-on discipline, rather than a one-time plan in case of emergency. And it’s not just the major players who need to have robust scenario planning in place for emergencies. Regional operators and co-ops are also contending with severe weather, increasingly sophisticated cybercriminals and more. The key? Preparation.

Today’s threat landscape: Environmental, digital, and physical threats

Network operators need to develop strategic and effective plans. It’s something I’m excited to help facilitate and discuss at the NTCA – The Rural Broadband Association’s annual RTIME event. We’ll be exploring three key risks driving today’s threat landscape.

First, severe weather has always been and remains a foundational risk for broadband networks, especially in rural and community-served areas where infrastructure spans long distances and single-point disruptions can have a wide impact. Storms, floods, wildfires and ice events can escalate quickly, leaving providers scrambling if restoration plans aren’t up to date. Just look at the recent snow and ice storms that slammed the southern United States. Some especially hard-hit areas, like Mississippi, had lingering power and internet outages weeks after the initial weather event.

Resilience means going beyond day-of response by having documented recovery strategies, regular drills, and confidence that crews, inventory, and partners are ready when conditions change.

Unfortunately, there’s no one-size-fits-all approach. With fewer resources, smaller providers face different realities than larger carriers, and different geographical locations might require operators to think outside the box. For example, when networks in North Carolina were impacted by Hurricane Helene, our customers turned to kayaks to reconnect miles of fiber optic cable across rushing water and mountains.

It doesn’t even have to be a natural disaster. It’s well documented that squirrels and other rodents are known to chew through fiber cables leading to widespread broadband outages. What remains critical to network operators is how quickly you can respond to any form of environmental damage and reduce the meantime to restoration.

Ongoing cybersecurity, including hardening infrastructure and having the right support, is more important than ever. Cyberattacks don’t follow business hours, and recovery often requires outside expertise, legal support, and rapid decision-making. For smaller providers without 24/7 security teams, the challenge is even greater.

This is where having the right partner is critical, knowing who to call when your internal resources are overwhelmed can be the difference between a quick restoration and a long-term outage. Remember, network resilience isn’t about switching protection on or off when needed. Instead, it’s about constant vigilance across data, systems, and access points.

Additionally, network operators increasingly need to consider threats to physical infrastructure, as vandalism tied to copper theft and cable cuts pose growing risks. With miles of infrastructure, total monitoring becomes impossible, making asset visibility and speed of restoration critical.

These physical threats are not always malicious. Back in 2011, a person from the country of Georgia accidentally severed an underground fiber cable while scavenging for scrap metal. That simple accident cut off internet for more than 3 million people in the neighboring country of Armenia.  The cable was well buried, but a recent landslide exposed it.

Malicious or not, these types of physical threats need to be guarded against.

For rural communities, there’s a growing need for collaboration. Mutual aid agreements, which have long been common in the electric utility sector, are still relatively new in telecom but are increasingly critical as connectivity becomes more essential to our daily lives. These agreements allow providers to lean on each other during major events, bringing in additional crews and expertise when local resources are overwhelmed. Without formal agreements in place, smaller operators are left more exposed when disruption strikes.

Resilience also means modernizing infrastructure to reduce long-term risk. Hardening networks by building with preconnectorized, ruggedized fiber solutions can help reduce time to restore  outages — and make repairs easier in case damage occurs. Aging copper networks are more vulnerable to theft and vandalism, making fiber a more durable and secure alternative for the future.

Providers need to shift from reactive recovery plans to proactive, strategic risk mitigation. To truly be prepared, the first step is ensuring clear and consistently updated response strategies for each type of threat are in place. Then, plans should be tested, using exercises like annual disaster drills or ongoing cybersecurity readiness checks to expose gaps before real-world events occur. During these tests, organizations should ensure records are up to date, determine which customers need to be restored first, and determine if outside support will be needed.

Most importantly, preparedness requires ongoing attention. Early warning signs matter, and continuous improvement is essential. By making resilience a top priority, regularly reviewing plans, and encouraging collaboration across the industry, organizations can help ensure networks and the communities they serve are ready for whatever comes next.