6 ms·

Hacker finds way to (re)use Emergency Broadcast System

27 points by jdavid 15y ago

libria 15y ago
With a text writeup: http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=news/iteam&id=8431876&pt=print http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=news/iteam&id=8...
- bshep 15y ago
  And a youtube link to the DefCon talk mentioned in the article: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sdmkTkWB40Q http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sdmkTkWB40Q
joezydeco 15y ago
Thank god he wore the official t-shirt for the interview.
- white_raven 15y ago
  hahahaha he means serious business.
- pavel_lishin 15y ago
  How else would the people watching know that he's a hacker? I mean, he doesn't have a six-monitor setup with a spinning rubik's cube compiling a hydra, he's not wearing 3D goggles, and they didn't have to go past his mom into a basement.
jdavid 15y ago
I also wonder with #spacepunk tech brewing if it's possible to actually overpower a satellites signal. There is someone on kickstarter working on low earth orbit satellites that would stay in orbit for 2 weeks.
- icebraining 15y ago
  As far as I know, all rockets are heavily regulated by the FAA, including have representatives at launch. I'd be willing to bet that an unauthorized launch wouldn't last very long.
  - gwern 15y ago
    Sure, but what are they going to do about it once it's up there?
    - adamgray 15y ago
      The US, Russia, and China all have proven anti-satellite weapon systems. IIRC they are very similar to missiles designed to intercept ICBMs.
      - gwern 15y ago
        It would have to be a very irritating satellite indeed to justify the expenditure of hundreds of millions and loss of secrecy to those programs involved in shooting down a random satellite.
- joezydeco 15y ago
  It might be easier to take over the satellite from the ground: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Captain_Midnight_(HBO) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Captain_Midnight_(HBO)
tallanvor 15y ago
I don't think it would be as easy as the "hacker" claims. It's been close to 10 years since I worked in radio, but the EAS system was one area I had responsibility for. There are a number of radio stations that are designated as primary stations, and the alerts would start with them, and no single station can trigger the alert across the country. You might get a signal to propagate across a few states, which, while bad, isn't quite as big of a deal as they make out.
- dsl 15y ago
  I second this. It may seems odd to "hackers" that the system is so simple, lacking encryption, authentication, or human checks and balances, but thats kind of the whole point. If it actually needs to be activated, nobody is going to be around to press the big red button or verify encryption keys. They will all be home evacuating their families.
curiouskat 15y ago
Anyone else get the feeling that all of this "hacker" stuff in the media is serving to raise the profile of "hackers" and position them as the new "terrorists" in an effort to create an environment of fear that will lead to support for upcoming Internet regulations?
- jonhendry 15y ago
  Maybe if "hackers" started showing a little judgement and self-control, and stopped acting like a Penn State coach on a grade school playground.
deleted 15y ago
[deleted]
deleted 15y ago
[deleted]
pavel_lishin 15y ago
Jake? Or Jack? http://i.imgur.com/ITCwN.jpg http://i.imgur.com/ITCwN.jpg
peterwwillis 15y ago
Here is the code in the video: http://anonymous-lulzsec.com/entries/encoders/same_enc-same_enc-c http://anonymous-lulzsec.com/entries/encoders/same_enc-same_... http://pastebin.com/gT7qErZF http://pastebin.com/gT7qErZF
- VonLipwig 15y ago
  Any code that starts with a long quote from V for Vendetta is not worth my time. I think anyone thinking about attempting this should read the story about the boy who cried wolf. If anything you reduce trust in the emergency broadcast system. This would be very bad, especially if a genuine emergency shortly followed a B.S. hacker broadcast

27 points by jdavid 15y ago

With a text writeup: http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=news/iteam&id=8431876&pt=print http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=news/iteam&id=8...

bshep 15y ago
And a youtube link to the DefCon talk mentioned in the article: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sdmkTkWB40Q http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sdmkTkWB40Q

joezydeco 15y ago

Thank god he wore the official t-shirt for the interview.

white_raven 15y ago
hahahaha he means serious business.
pavel_lishin 15y ago
How else would the people watching know that he's a hacker? I mean, he doesn't have a six-monitor setup with a spinning rubik's cube compiling a hydra, he's not wearing 3D goggles, and they didn't have to go past his mom into a basement.

jdavid 15y ago

I also wonder with #spacepunk tech brewing if it's possible to actually overpower a satellites signal. There is someone on kickstarter working on low earth orbit satellites that would stay in orbit for 2 weeks.

icebraining 15y ago
As far as I know, all rockets are heavily regulated by the FAA, including have representatives at launch. I'd be willing to bet that an unauthorized launch wouldn't last very long.
- gwern 15y ago
  Sure, but what are they going to do about it once it's up there?
  - adamgray 15y ago
    The US, Russia, and China all have proven anti-satellite weapon systems. IIRC they are very similar to missiles designed to intercept ICBMs.
    - gwern 15y ago
      It would have to be a very irritating satellite indeed to justify the expenditure of hundreds of millions and loss of secrecy to those programs involved in shooting down a random satellite.
joezydeco 15y ago
It might be easier to take over the satellite from the ground: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Captain_Midnight_(HBO) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Captain_Midnight_(HBO)

tallanvor 15y ago

I don't think it would be as easy as the "hacker" claims. It's been close to 10 years since I worked in radio, but the EAS system was one area I had responsibility for. There are a number of radio stations that are designated as primary stations, and the alerts would start with them, and no single station can trigger the alert across the country. You might get a signal to propagate across a few states, which, while bad, isn't quite as big of a deal as they make out.

dsl 15y ago
I second this. It may seems odd to "hackers" that the system is so simple, lacking encryption, authentication, or human checks and balances, but thats kind of the whole point. If it actually needs to be activated, nobody is going to be around to press the big red button or verify encryption keys. They will all be home evacuating their families.

curiouskat 15y ago

Anyone else get the feeling that all of this "hacker" stuff in the media is serving to raise the profile of "hackers" and position them as the new "terrorists" in an effort to create an environment of fear that will lead to support for upcoming Internet regulations?

jonhendry 15y ago
Maybe if "hackers" started showing a little judgement and self-control, and stopped acting like a Penn State coach on a grade school playground.

deleted 15y ago

[deleted]

deleted 15y ago

[deleted]

pavel_lishin 15y ago

Jake? Or Jack? http://i.imgur.com/ITCwN.jpg http://i.imgur.com/ITCwN.jpg

peterwwillis 15y ago

Here is the code in the video: http://anonymous-lulzsec.com/entries/encoders/same_enc-same_enc-c http://anonymous-lulzsec.com/entries/encoders/same_enc-same_... http://pastebin.com/gT7qErZF http://pastebin.com/gT7qErZF

VonLipwig 15y ago
Any code that starts with a long quote from V for Vendetta is not worth my time. I think anyone thinking about attempting this should read the story about the boy who cried wolf. If anything you reduce trust in the emergency broadcast system. This would be very bad, especially if a genuine emergency shortly followed a B.S. hacker broadcast