4 ms·

I can't help but wonder how possible it would be (or would have been at some point in the past) for a person with evil intent to send unauthorized commands to t

I can't help but wonder how possible it would be (or would have been at some point in the past) for a person with evil intent to send unauthorized commands to these probes. How are signals authenticated? At this point, is it just that there are only a handful of parties capable of sending a strong enough radio signal to a precise-enough location in space, and who know the position of these probes to the degree of accuracy required?

jutrewag 4y ago
[dead]
jacquesm 4y ago
You'll need to hack NASA's deep space network first I think. On your own and with a normal mortal's budget you're not going to be able to do much of anything.
- stouset 4y ago
  Nowadays sure. What about shortly after launch? Say you’re the USSR and want to quietly piss in NASA’s cornflakes. Or hell, say you’re Putin—today—and want to do the same thing. Could you?
  - kadoban 4y ago
    Shortly after launch it was almost certainly not known how communication worked. And if you had a spy that could get you that info, you could just get them to press the wrong button(s) instead.
  - Red_Leaves_Flyy 4y ago
    Got a Time Machine?
  - midoridensha 4y ago
    Putin has limited resources. He'd rather spend them on his stupid war, and also building other weapons and warships, rather than a giant radio antenna and a team of engineers trying to hack a 45-year-old spacecraft's communications protocol, just to screw with NASA.
    - stouset 4y ago
      I’m asking about the technical measures used to authenticate commands to these probes. The bit about Putin was just about framing the question.
      - midoridensha 4y ago
        Some random hobbyists (or even small nation-states) aren't going to be able to build a radio antenna large enough to communicate with deep-space probes like that. That's all the "technical measures" needed.
noodlesUK 4y ago
Well, I think the first obstacle would be acquiring a sufficiently large antenna. Given that the large dishes used in the DSN are 70m (~230ft) across, I suspect somebody would notice…
- creatonez 4y ago
  They'll notice! Good thing you're doing it in North Korea where they can't do anything about it.
- stouset 4y ago
  I buy that. But what about shortly after launch?
ragebol 4y ago
Your guess is as good as mine I suppose. Not many people have access to a huge antenna with huge transmitting power. As for authentication: with 16 buts per second and 44 hours round trip, they're not doing some sort of handshake to agree an encryption key. But given these were launched during the Cold War, maybe some basic encryption perhaps, with key of course hardcoded before launch?
- kadoban 4y ago
  I highly doubt it's even authenticated. They're probably just relying on anyone with enough skill and money having easier/better things to attack. The death of Voyager would not hurt any of America's strategic objectives. It would just make some nerds really bummed, approximately as many in your own country as in America, so what have you gained?
sidewndr46 4y ago
Just getting a piece of infrastructure that can lock onto the probe's telemetry signals is incredibly difficult.

jutrewag 4y ago

[dead]

jacquesm 4y ago

You'll need to hack NASA's deep space network first I think. On your own and with a normal mortal's budget you're not going to be able to do much of anything.

stouset 4y ago
Nowadays sure. What about shortly after launch? Say you’re the USSR and want to quietly piss in NASA’s cornflakes. Or hell, say you’re Putin—today—and want to do the same thing. Could you?
- kadoban 4y ago
  Shortly after launch it was almost certainly not known how communication worked. And if you had a spy that could get you that info, you could just get them to press the wrong button(s) instead.
- Red_Leaves_Flyy 4y ago
  Got a Time Machine?
- midoridensha 4y ago
  Putin has limited resources. He'd rather spend them on his stupid war, and also building other weapons and warships, rather than a giant radio antenna and a team of engineers trying to hack a 45-year-old spacecraft's communications protocol, just to screw with NASA.
  - stouset 4y ago
    I’m asking about the technical measures used to authenticate commands to these probes. The bit about Putin was just about framing the question.
    - midoridensha 4y ago
      Some random hobbyists (or even small nation-states) aren't going to be able to build a radio antenna large enough to communicate with deep-space probes like that. That's all the "technical measures" needed.

noodlesUK 4y ago

Well, I think the first obstacle would be acquiring a sufficiently large antenna. Given that the large dishes used in the DSN are 70m (~230ft) across, I suspect somebody would notice…

creatonez 4y ago
They'll notice! Good thing you're doing it in North Korea where they can't do anything about it.
stouset 4y ago
I buy that. But what about shortly after launch?

ragebol 4y ago

Your guess is as good as mine I suppose. Not many people have access to a huge antenna with huge transmitting power. As for authentication: with 16 buts per second and 44 hours round trip, they're not doing some sort of handshake to agree an encryption key. But given these were launched during the Cold War, maybe some basic encryption perhaps, with key of course hardcoded before launch?

kadoban 4y ago
I highly doubt it's even authenticated. They're probably just relying on anyone with enough skill and money having easier/better things to attack. The death of Voyager would not hurt any of America's strategic objectives. It would just make some nerds really bummed, approximately as many in your own country as in America, so what have you gained?

sidewndr46 4y ago

Just getting a piece of infrastructure that can lock onto the probe's telemetry signals is incredibly difficult.