A report found that 237 cyber attacks have been carried out on aerospace and defence companies. It said most were carried out due to their role in manufacturing military equipment
Hackers are launching cyber Star Wars by targeting the space industry. Most attacks were on aerospace and defence companies due to their role in manufacturing military equipment and not their actions in orbit.
More than 70% were denial-of-service attacks which flood websites overwhelming networks which then crash. New research published by the Center for Security Studies in Switzerland warns space satellites and communications systems face a mounting cyber war threat.
Figures showed there have been 237 attacks on space infrastructure in the past two years. The most dramatic increase occurred during the Israel-Iran conflict in June when 72 operations were recorded in a single month. The report said similar activity had been noted during Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
“Cyber operations against the space sector are now part of a general trend during armed conflicts,” the report said.
All but one of the threat actors identified in the space sector were pro-Palestinian groups. The study showed that 10 attacks occurred following Hamas’s October 7 2023 terror attack on Israel.
Targets included the Israel Space Agency – aka ISA – and the Israeli defence company Rafael. The report said the escalation had ‘surprised hacktivists globally’.
Hackers have targeted 77 different space organisations during the Gaza conflict. Rafael, the Israeli military technology company Elbit Systems and the ISA were the most hit.
But international bodies such as NASA were also targeted.
Some data leaks were also recorded around the time of important events in the Middle East conflict, said researchers, adding that the ‘actual scale of activity against the space sector is likely considerably larger’. Experts said similar tactics had been used by hackers during the conflicts involving Israel and Ukraine.
A 2023 attack carried out by the so-called ‘Cyber Army of Palestine’ on the ISA used code similar to that deployed by the IT Army of Ukraine, a volunteer group fighting cyberwarfare against the Russians.
Though most incidents caused limited physical or operational damage the report noted that the pattern of activity indicates the future of space-based cyber conflict. The study’s conclusion suggests cyber operations against the space sector are becoming ‘consistent elements’ in modern conflicts because of the interest from hacktivists to target actors in the industry.
Anti-cyber attack strategies need to be worked on to protect space infrastructure from further damage, the report added.
For the latest breaking news and stories from across the globe from the Daily Star, sign up for our newsletters.