A mysterious satellite hack has victims far beyond Ukraine

The KA-SAT is locked in space. Traveling at 7,000 miles per hour, the satellite beams high-speed Internet down to people across Europe. It has helped people get online. Satellite Internet connections were disrupted as Russian troops moved into Ukraine. The satellite's ground infrastructure was attacked, causing tens of thousands of people to go into Internet darkness.

It was a huge loss in communications in the beginning of the war. He didn't give any more information, and SSSCIP didn't respond to the request for comment. The satellite Internet system owned by Viasat had been attacked. Satellite Internet connections were knocked offline in Europe.

The disruptions continue almost a month after the attack. Around 2,000 wind turbines are still disconnected in Germany, and companies are racing to replace broken modems or fix connections. Intelligence agencies in the US and Europe are investigating the attack. The Viasat hack is arguably the largest publicly known cyberattack to take place since Russia invaded Ukraine, and it stands out for its impact beyond the borders of Ukraine. There are still questions about the attack, its purpose, and who carried it out.

Satellite internet connections are often used by everyday citizens in areas with low cable coverage. A consultant at the United Nations Institute says that the setup is different from a typical home or office wi-fi network. Spot beams are used to provide internet coverage to specific areas on the ground, and they are sent back to Earth. Satellite dishes on the ground pick up the beams. They can be attached to the sides of buildings or on planes. The ground network is a collection of earth stations connected to the internet.

The Ukrainian government has not commented on the attack. Satellite communications, also known as satcom, are frequently used in the country. Multiple government contracts show that the SSSCIP and police have purchased the technology used in the most transparent system for tracking government spending in the world. More than 12,000 satellite Internet connection points were used to monitor voting during the 2012 elections in Ukraine, according to documents spotted by a European cybersecurity firm.

Peter Lemme, an aviation specialist who also writes about satellite communications, says that most people would look at the signal in space if it were disrupted.

The attack against Viasat may not have involved jamming. ChrisPhillips said that the attack against the network was a deliberate, isolated, and external cyber event. The company says that the attack only affected fixed broadband customers and did not cause disruption to airlines or Viasat's US government clients. People's modems have not been able to connect to the network, and they have been rendered useless.

The customer base of Viasat is still being operated by a third party as part of the transition after the company purchased the KA-SAT in Europe last year. They can be refurbished, so we are recycling them.

There is no evidence to date that the KA-SAT satellite, core network infrastructure, or gateways have been damaged. Viasat says the cyberattack was caused by a misconfiguration in the management section of its network. The company refused to give any more information on the technical nature of the incident. Viasat is concentrating on recovering from the partial outage.