The Growing Vulnerability of Data Centers in Military Conflicts

Recent attacks in Iran have highlighted the strategic vulnerability of data centers in modern warfare. As critical infrastructure for both economic and governmental operations, these facilities are increasingly targeted during conflicts. In the Gulf region, U.S. and Israeli attacks prompted retaliatory strikes by Iran, leading to the destruction of three Amazon Web Services (AWS) data centers—two in the United Arab Emirates and one in Bahrain—causing temporary disruptions in digital services. Although these attacks did not immediately halt operations, AWS advised clients to relocate workloads to other countries to maintain service continuity. Iran has long anticipated such risks, relocating portions of its digital infrastructure underground to create fortified data centers, including the National Iranian Network (NIN), which allows the government to maintain essential services during external attacks. Globally, other countries have adopted similar measures. In the United States, a data center in Pennsylvania is located over 60 meters underground in a limestone mine for government and economic data storage. Europe hosts underground facilities like Switzerland’s Fort Knox and Sweden’s Pionen, the latter built to house Wikileaks servers. Norway’s Lefdal data center extends up to 600 meters underground, benefiting from natural cooling from nearby fjord waters. These subterranean data centers not only offer improved security but also cost-effective cooling solutions, demonstrating a growing trend in protecting critical digital infrastructure from military threats.