Companies supplying Satellite services and equipment have been put on a high alert of a possible cyber attack by individual hackers or powerful nation states. The alert was issued by a team of veterans at the Satellite 2017 Conference, held in Washington.
Vinit Duggal, Intelsat Director and Chief Information Security Officer who participated at the Satellite 2017 conference said that the security landscape for satellites and equipment supplies has changed a lot in the past few years. Mr. Duggal added, since, Satellite networks are becoming an integral part of larger terrestrial networks, hackers being funded by some state sponsored agencies are now making space stations are soft targets.
It has to be notified over here that Satellite networks provide communication mediums to ships, aircraft, other transport mediums which include US government’s most secure aircraft Air Force One which carries the US President on foreign visits.
As ViaSat offers global broadband connections for such transit mediums, it has issued a warning to all Satellite stations and networks operating around the globe to isolate themselves all kinds of cyber attacks.
Some state sponsored actors, such as the ones operating from Russia can easily target the communication satellites to nullify the communication medium of an entire state or country with the help of malicious software. If this happens, then it can not only bring in a political turmoil but can also shake an entire nation’s security and integrity forever.
As satellites play a unique role in the Internet of Things, Hijacking them or controlling them can yield a bouquet of benefits to hackers. What if hackers use a connected car to assassinate a political stalwart? Or use a connected refrigerator to breach a home network of high profile celebrity.
Hard to Imagine….isn’t it? But these possibilities can happen in the currently poised cyber security landscape.
Just think about it and share your mind through the comments section below.
