Small Satellite Dish Systems 'Ripe For Hacking'

The Walking Dude writes: "According to the CS Monitor, 'Thousands of small satellite dish-based computer systems [VSATs] that transmit often-sensitive data from far flung locations worldwide – oil rigs, ships at sea, banks, and even power grid substations – are at high risk of being hacked, including many in the United States, a new cyber-security report has found.' Dr. Jason Fritz said, 'Vulnerabilities exist at all nodes and links in satellite structure. These can be exploited through Internet-connected computer networks, as hackers are more commonly envisioned to do, or through electronic warfare methodologies that more directly manipulate the radio waves of uplinks and downlinks.'"

Comments

Even satellite can be hacked

[Taco Cowboy]

In the 1990's a communication satellite belonging to China was hacked and the hackers (rumored to be a state-sponsored hacker group) changed the tee vee channels on that satellite to carry anti CCP programs.

Almost 20 years have passed and nobody claimed responsibility over that incident, but it is believed that the hacker group was sponsored by some state (nation) because it does take quite a bit more ooomph in term of beaming power in order to hack into a satellite orbiting the Earth.

As for that particular Chinese communication satellite, China tried to "unhack" that bird but failed. So China took the "Plan B" route - they junked that bird, shut everything on that satellite down and now it's floating up there doing nothing.

Re:We'll see

[JustOK]

Offenders should be sent to Cyberia

No surprise

[Anonymous Coward]

All software is shit, all hardware too. We've long abandoned a development model that is focused on correctness. It has been features, features, features for decades. So what do you expect? Of course everything's ripe to be hacked. We had a choice.

Re:No surprise

[KingOfBLASH]

Most locks can be picked with a lock pick

Many cars can be compromised with a screwdriver and thin piece of metal to open them.

Many anti-shoplifting devices can be disabled if you know how.

The list goes on.

True security costs money and effort. A LOT of it.

For most applications, as a society, we err on the side of too little security (and accept the small chance that security will be compromised, because it's not an issue).

This is because, historically, security issues have been quite local. People don't steal enough in most neighborhoods to justify putting bars on your windows. People don't shoplift enough to justify a full cavity search of anyone entering or exiting a department store.

Technology is of course changing all of that. Before, if we know there is a 1 in a million chance of a bad guy in the population, most small communities were not afraid. Now, it is possible for a single determined hacker to do all kinds of crazy things. That's where people have not caught up, and in the future we will have to start making choices with regards to whether we want to expend the resources for true security. And we might do it if there are enough incidents to justify it -- but perhaps not before.

Re:We'll see

[Anonymous Coward]

to the Googlags