Satellites Are Rife With Basic Security Flaws

[1PW]

Satellites Are Rife With Basic Security Flaws

Hundreds of miles above Earth, thousands of satellites are orbiting the planet to keep the world running smoothly. Timing systems, GPS, and communications technologies are all powered by satellites. But for years, security researchers have warned that more needs to be done to secure the satellites against cyberattacks.

…

[David H. Lipman]

[NewTricks]

"German researchers gained rare access to three satellites and found that they’re years behind normal cybersecurity standards....

Johannes Willbold, a PhD student at Ruhr University Bochum and the lead researcher behind the security analysis, says the current state of satellite security can be classed as “security by obscurity.” Bizarre and ironic situations are always better when they rhyme. 

[AdvancedSetup]

Good thing they're just chunks of metal up there

 

[nukecad]

Reality check needed?

So basically they have found that 3 old university satellites have old software with old security.

That's hardly earth shattering news. (Pun intended).

It's about on a par with saying that some organisations are still using XP on their computers, which we know still happens.

So someone could possibly hack such an old satellite, (why would they?), and take it over or shut it down, so what?

Not very nice for the owner/users of that small satellite, but of little consequence to anyone else.

Even if they could be dropped from orbit they would burn up well before reaching the ground.
You need a much more solid mass for a kinetic energy weapon.

Maneuver them to crash into another, "more important", satellite perhaps?
The type of satellite involved here doesn't have much if any maneuvering capability, they are put into LEO and just orbit until they eventually fall back into the atmosphere and burn up.

"Important" satellites do usually have a maneuvering capability - to avoid the space junk that might otherwise hit them.
https://www.space.com/international-space-station-dodge-space-junk-march-2023

Space junk is a bigger worry for satellite operators than the remote posibility of an old satellite being hacked.

Edited July 21, 2023 by nukecad

[NewTricks]

I like your reassurance & reality check @nukecad Always good to "hear" from you. 

[nukecad]

I have thought of one reason for hacking such a satellite - to demand a ransom for giving control back to the owner.

You'd be pretty stupid to pay though, they'll just hack it again when they want more money.

It's not like you can open it up to upgrade the hardware and install a new more secure OS.

Edited July 21, 2023 by nukecad

[AdvancedSetup]

Oh come on @nukecad you're putting reality into my Chicken Little - The Sky is Falling reply. 😆😄 ROFL

 

[nukecad]

A bigish one due to deorbit (fall back to earth) today over the Atlantic, bits of it will probably hit the water:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-66326153

 

Edited July 29, 2023 by nukecad

[nukecad]

That BBC article has been updated, Aeolus came down over Antartica at about 19:00 GMT.

Here's more from ESA:
https://www.esa.int/Applications/Observing_the_Earth/FutureEO/Aeolus/Aeolus_a_historic_end_to_a_trailblazing_mission

Let's hope there were no Polar Bears in the area where the bits crashed down.

The various tabs on this page are also interesting (if you are interested in deorbiting space junk):
https://reentry.esoc.esa.int/home/recovereddebris

Edited July 29, 2023 by nukecad

[NewTricks]

Wow! That video of the maneuvers, burns at 38, 32 and 40 minutes after a 180 degree rotation were truly exciting. What's even better is that the right minds with the right hearts got together to make this happen, even when logic may have indicated it was a lost cause. I'm keen on the Recovered Debris Ablation photo.

[digmorcrusher]

6 hours ago, nukecad said:

That BBC article has been updated, Aeolus came down over Antarica at about 19:00 GMT.

Here's more from ESA:
https://www.esa.int/Applications/Observing_the_Earth/FutureEO/Aeolus/Aeolus_a_historic_end_to_a_trailblazing_mission

Let's hope there were no Polar Bears in the area where the bits crashed down.

The various tabs on this page are also interesting (if you are interested in deorbiting space junk):
https://reentry.esoc.esa.int/home/recovereddebris

I can safely assure you that no polar bears were harmed. 😁