Satellite communication (SATCOM) terminals, relied upon by US military aircraft, ships, and land vehicles to move in harmony with one another...

By Mark Tarallo

► Satellite communication (SATCOM) terminals, relied upon by US military aircraft, ships, and land vehicles to move in harmony with one another, are susceptible to cyber-attack through digital backdoors and other vulnerabilities, according to a new report, the Christian Science Monitor reported. SATCOM terminals cited in the report, conducted by IOActive, a Seattle-based cyber-security firm, also serve nonmilitary uses, such as data collection from remote oil and gas pumping sites or retail chain stores. All involve sending data from far-flung operations up to large commercial satellite networks. “IOActive found that malicious actors could abuse all of the devices within the scope of this study,” says the report, entitled “A Wake-up Call for SATCOM Security.” “These vulnerabilities have the potential to allow a malicious actor to intercept, manipulate, or block communications, and in some cases, to remotely take control of the physical device,” the report says.

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