4 ms·

If this happens I am scared. We will now have people hacking into Space Objects as the new pinnacle of extreme hacking. Someone is going to do something bad wi

by baldfat 12y ago

If this happens I am scared. We will now have people hacking into Space Objects as the new pinnacle of extreme hacking. Someone is going to do something bad with this new idea.

andyjohnson0 12y ago
In this case it requires a 400W transmitter and an extremely large parabolic antenna. Probably not something they'll have at the local hackerspace. Satellites in LEO/MEO might be reachable with more readily obtainable equipment though.
- jacquesm 12y ago
  The 400W transmitter is doable, the large parabolic antenna would be a bit harder to hide. Though, as you up the power you can use a smaller antenna. The giveaway then becomes fried birds falling out of the sky.
  - Already__Taken 12y ago
    You also wouldn't have the hardest time finding where a 400W+ signal is coming from.
    - jacquesm 12y ago
      You're going 'up' with a highly directional antenna, and you're going to be transmitting very short bursts. The biggest risk will be the lobes projecting from the antenna some of those will be pointing back at the planet instead of into space. Airtraffic will have the biggest risk of interference (also because the frequency band is close). So kidding aside you will need to make very certain that (1) you have the right permits and (2) that your gear is not inadvertently sending out a dirty signal. The narrower the better. Better start shopping for a second hand spectrum analyzer ;)
  - Serow225 12y ago
    It's not even building a big dish that's the problem, it's that it has to be pointed extremely accurately and stably, and preferably able to track..t
  - snops 12y ago
    Half of the problem is recieving signals back, as you can't just turn up the power on the satellite. I suppose if you knew exactly what command to send, and there was no form of handshaking this might not be a problem.
jacquesm 12y ago
People have possibly been hacking 'space objects' for well over two decades, but (understandably) not much of that is in cited journals. The most you hear about it is that someone knows someone who knows someone that did something, in very rare cases the someone that did something even has a name. That's not exactly verification, but there is so much smoke around this subject it would be hard to imagine there are no sparks or even a small fire. Hacking a space borne piece of hardware that is in active use is probably an excellent way to become a 'person of interest' for a ton of agencies that you want no interaction with whatsoever. If you see an E2 flying in your neighbourhood while you're doing this it might be time to start packing.
joshdance 12y ago
The obligatory xkcd - http://xkcd.com/1337/ http://xkcd.com/1337/
kordless 12y ago
> Someone is going to do something bad with this new idea. Someone is always going to do something bad with something that others would do something good with. Sitting around being afraid of it is pointless.
yaur 12y ago
It isn't new... see http://www.atimes.com/atimes/China/GC26Ad04.html http://www.atimes.com/atimes/China/GC26Ad04.html and pages 30-31 of http://www.international-relations.com/CM2012/Satellite-Hacking.pdf http://www.international-relations.com/CM2012/Satellite-Hack...
baldfat 12y ago
Why is Hacker News feeling like Reddit? Get down voted for a different opinion. Didn't it cause more conversation about the issue?

by baldfat 12y ago

If this happens I am scared. We will now have people hacking into Space Objects as the new pinnacle of extreme hacking. Someone is going to do something bad with this new idea.

andyjohnson0 12y ago

In this case it requires a 400W transmitter and an extremely large parabolic antenna. Probably not something they'll have at the local hackerspace. Satellites in LEO/MEO might be reachable with more readily obtainable equipment though.

jacquesm 12y ago
The 400W transmitter is doable, the large parabolic antenna would be a bit harder to hide. Though, as you up the power you can use a smaller antenna. The giveaway then becomes fried birds falling out of the sky.
- Already__Taken 12y ago
  You also wouldn't have the hardest time finding where a 400W+ signal is coming from.
  - jacquesm 12y ago
    You're going 'up' with a highly directional antenna, and you're going to be transmitting very short bursts. The biggest risk will be the lobes projecting from the antenna some of those will be pointing back at the planet instead of into space. Airtraffic will have the biggest risk of interference (also because the frequency band is close). So kidding aside you will need to make very certain that (1) you have the right permits and (2) that your gear is not inadvertently sending out a dirty signal. The narrower the better. Better start shopping for a second hand spectrum analyzer ;)
- Serow225 12y ago
  It's not even building a big dish that's the problem, it's that it has to be pointed extremely accurately and stably, and preferably able to track..t
- snops 12y ago
  Half of the problem is recieving signals back, as you can't just turn up the power on the satellite. I suppose if you knew exactly what command to send, and there was no form of handshaking this might not be a problem.

jacquesm 12y ago

People have possibly been hacking 'space objects' for well over two decades, but (understandably) not much of that is in cited journals. The most you hear about it is that someone knows someone who knows someone that did something, in very rare cases the someone that did something even has a name. That's not exactly verification, but there is so much smoke around this subject it would be hard to imagine there are no sparks or even a small fire. Hacking a space borne piece of hardware that is in active use is probably an excellent way to become a 'person of interest' for a ton of agencies that you want no interaction with whatsoever. If you see an E2 flying in your neighbourhood while you're doing this it might be time to start packing.

joshdance 12y ago

The obligatory xkcd - http://xkcd.com/1337/ http://xkcd.com/1337/

kordless 12y ago

> Someone is going to do something bad with this new idea. Someone is always going to do something bad with something that others would do something good with. Sitting around being afraid of it is pointless.

yaur 12y ago

It isn't new... see http://www.atimes.com/atimes/China/GC26Ad04.html http://www.atimes.com/atimes/China/GC26Ad04.html and pages 30-31 of http://www.international-relations.com/CM2012/Satellite-Hacking.pdf http://www.international-relations.com/CM2012/Satellite-Hack...

baldfat 12y ago

Why is Hacker News feeling like Reddit? Get down voted for a different opinion. Didn't it cause more conversation about the issue?