Communications of the ACM
Satellite Modems Nexus of Worst Cyberattack of Ukraine War
The U.S. Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency published a Joint Cybersecurity Advisory about destructive malware that is targeting organizations in Ukraine.
Credit: John Elswick/AP
A cyberattack anchored on a satellite network owned by U.S-based Viasat and used by Ukraine's government and military emphasizes the vulnerability of commercial satellite networks.
The attack began early on Feb. 24, as Russia invaded Ukraine, with a distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack that knocked numerous modems offline.
Next, a malicious software command was sent across the network, crippling tens of thousands of modems in Europe by overwriting key data in their internal memory.
The initial DDoS attack originated from modems inside Ukraine, but Viasat did not disclose how the malware entered the network.
Ukrainian officials blame Russian hackers for the attack.
Johns Hopkins University's Gregory Falco said the attackers likely have maintained a foothold.
Said Falco, "The attackers don't want to show their whole hand or any of their positioning for how they plan to persist in the network."
From Associated Press
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