Military History
|
How To Make War
|
Wars Around the World
Rules of Use
How to Behave on an Internet Forum
Information Warfare
Discussion Board
Return to Topic Page
Subject:
How To Hack A Satellite
SYSOP
4/20/2015 5:47:09 AM
Quote
Reply
Show Only Poster Name and Title
Newest to Oldest
keffler25
4/20/2015 10:35:38 AM
Ground-based satellite encryption and control means (telemetry) means HARDWARE access because you have to AIM the uplink to a specific satellite [cluster] at a specific time in its orbit to do the hack through the satellites. So the French have traitors in their broadcasting networks and those "ISIL bozos" (see candidate list of the actual suspects--> My opinion) have some NATION STATE or its equivalent (takes specialized knowledge about targeted space assets.) helping them. This isn't something some bastard in a basement with a home rig can pull off, no matter what the Hollywood fantasy movies suggest. You have to know where when and how to hijack the birds and that means orbital ephemerals, what kind of ground to orbit telemetry protocols, the time to transmit windows and so forth and the right kind of transmitters to use or take over, so you can hijack the satellites (plural).
Candidates?
--Iran--not likely.
--China--VERY likely as a disguised peacetime cyber warfare test.
--Saudi Arabia--not smart enough; they would have to hire it done.
--Russia --very likely, there is a hacker community almost second to none with access to corrupt state resources and willing to sell their services to anyone.
--Pakistan--possible, but they are so CIA pinballed right now, that if they did it, it would be instantly known.
Quote
Reply
joe6pack
4/20/2015 11:29:08 AM
It seems like maybe the article is misleading. Instead of going directly after the satellites.. (which I defer to Keffler on).. It sounds like they went after the ground based controls.
Just pilfer some system admin's account.. and upload or shut down at the ground source.. seems like a much more easily accomplished approach.. Basically your standard hack..
Quote
Reply
keffler25
4/20/2015 2:37:09 PM
That is exactly what I mean, J6P. You have to get inside somebody's ground station (multiple ones in the case of cross-checking redundant ones) to corrupt a satellite constellation. That is not as simple as putting a memory stick into a port somewhere. The hack had to be well prepared so that the instructions went to the uplink.
Quote
Reply
joe6pack
4/20/2015 3:27:51 PM
>
The hack had to be well prepared so that the instructions went to the uplink.
Very interesting indeed then. I had sort of pictured it like getting access to just a set of controls on a workstation.. Client sends some instructions to a server someplace.. uploads the "off" message and down it goes.. But far more complex than that...
Yeah.. agreed, that puts pretty big limits on the pool of possible culprits.
Quote
Reply
keffler25
4/20/2015 7:12:08 PM
Hypothesis of how it was done.
Russian method.
Quote
Reply
joe6pack
4/21/2015 11:40:16 AM
Well, if their hypothesis is anywhere near correct... it goes back to poor design and security practices. The breach they mention isn't really anywhere near the "state actor" level of complexity. That said, as you mentioned.. once they get access, accomplishing what they did requires some sophistication.
Still, an interesting case. Given some time, I may take a look for the write up (assuming it isn't in French)
Quote
Reply
keffler25
4/21/2015 11:55:07 AM
Hey, the Russians are good at this kind of thing. If a bunch of mercenaries could write code and infect our DoD SIPRS network through a traitor and a mem-stick then a French TV network's landlines (social media on the internet) would be a cinch for them. The article (see above)
Calling themselves the CyberCaliphate the group had apparently spent weeks getting past the formidable network security and did some major damage. TV5 satellite feeds send programming to over 250 million customers (households and businesses) worldwide. All eleven TV5 channels were dark for three hours before a temporary data feed was established to put something on customer TV screens
.
said that these bozos got into the satellite feed, though. That's the uplink.
That's a whole different kettle of fish.
The only way an attachment could blank a satellite system is if the the code got into the broadcast single origin point and
blanked it out on the ground before it was ever sent to a transmitter. Hence my comment that the French had a traitor in their works.
Quote
Reply
joe6pack
4/21/2015 12:13:55 PM
"
Hence my comment that the French had a traitor in their works.
"
Yup, the really weak link in securing technology is often of the people that are given access to it...
Quote
Reply
Latest
News
Most
Read
Most
Commented
Hot
Topics
LEADERSHIP: Russia’s Wartime Economic Crisis
PROCUREMENT: Turkish Armaments Industry Takes Flight
PROCUREMENT: Crowdfunding for Sea Baby UUVs
ELECTRONIC WEAPONS: Risks of Going All Wireless
AIR DEFENSE: New Iranian Air and Coast Defense Systems
FORCES: Russia’s Conscription Crisis
PROCUREMENT: Italy Rearms
SEA TRANSPORTATION: The Yemen War on the Suez Canal
PROCUREMENT: Russian Resources Diminished in Ukraine
ELECTRONIC WEAPONS: Electronic Weapons: Russian Botnets on the Offensive
PROCUREMENT: Russian Resources Diminished in Ukraine
ELECTRONIC WEAPONS: Russian Botnets on the Offensive
COUNTER-TERRORISM: No One Expects The Fatemiyoun Brigade
SURFACE FORCES : Expanding Iranian Navy
AIR TRANSPORTATION: Israeli Airliner Runs into Red Sea Problems
INDIA-PAKISTAN: India-Pakistan February 2024
PROCUREMENT: Countries Closer to Russia Spend More on Defense
CHINA: China February 2024
ATTRITION: Russia Loses Another A-50U AWACS
FORCES: Russian Army Kidnapping Foreigners to be Soldiers
INFANTRY: Russia’s Foreign Legion
LEADERSHIP: Russia’s Expensive War in Ukraine
ARTILLERY: North Korean Budget Ballistic Missiles
SPACE: Dependable Expendable Space Satellites
WEAPONS: DevDroid Enhanced Weapons
ELECTRONIC WEAPONS: AI Powered Diagnostics
ELECTRONIC WEAPONS: MagNav Can Now Replace GPS
INTELLIGENCE: Cold War American Tactics Return
ATTRITION: Two Years of Russian Losses in Ukraine
ELECTRONIC WEAPONS: The Dark Side of AI
Subscribe to Our RSS Feed
Armor: Evolution of Tank Warfare in Ukraine
Weapons: Putting a Spike in North Korean Aggression
Air Weapons: The Ukraine Unmanned Systems Force
Surface Forces: Ada Class Corvettes
Procurement: The Russian Smuggling Industry
Electronic Weapons: Norway Again Attacked by Russian Jamming
WARS Afghanistan: Afghanistan March 2024
Armor: Evolution of Tank Warfare in Ukraine
Attrition: Patterns of American Combat Casualties
Naval Air: Cruise Missile Pretenders
Murphy's Law: China Harasses Foreign Investment it Encouraged
Surface Forces: Unmanned LUSV Ships at Sea
Procurement: Russian Demand and North Korean Arms Production
Warplanes: F22 Gets an End Date
Artillery: More Truck Mounted Artillery for Ukraine
Air Defense: Russian Air Defense Tries Something New
AIR WEAPONS: The Ukraine Unmanned Systems Force
WEAPONS: Putting a Spike in North Korean Aggression
SURFACE FORCES : Unmanned LUSV Ships at Sea
SPACE: Russian Roscosmos Retreating
INTELLIGENCE: Americans Use AI to Plan Airstrikes
ELECTRONIC WEAPONS: Norway Again Attacked by Russian Jamming
ATTRITION: Patterns of American Combat Casualties
AFGHANISTAN: Afghanistan March 2024
PROCUREMENT: The Russian Smuggling Industry
PROCUREMENT: The Russian Smuggling Industry
WEAPONS: Putting a Spike in North Korean Aggression
AIR WEAPONS: The Ukraine Unmanned Systems Force
AIR WEAPONS: The Ukraine Unmanned Systems Force
ARMOR: Evolution of Tank Warfare in Ukraine
SURFACE FORCES : Ada Class Corvettes
ARMOR: Evolution of Tank Warfare in Ukraine
ARMOR: Evolution of Tank Warfare in Ukraine
ARMOR: Evolution of Tank Warfare in Ukraine
ARMOR: Evolution of Tank Warfare in Ukraine
ARTILLERY: Fire Weaver and Long Spike
News
How To Make War
Wars Around The World
Austin Bay's On Point
StrategyTalk
Dirty Little Secrets
Features
Al Nofi's CIC
Videos
Photos
Jokes
Community
Military Discussion Boards
Military Jokes
Military Photos
Military Book Reviews
StrategyPage
Account Manager
Login
Feedback
About Us
Search
Advertise With Us
Search