They use a satellite out of service to broadcast pirate television

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The satellites created by man have a useful life in which they are performing different functions. At the end of their cycle, they enter the so-called “cemetery orbit”, trajectories in which the probability of collisions with other satellites still operational is reduced and they prevent space debris from being generated near the earth’s sky.

For a long time, these satellites were out of service if they had stopped performing the function for which they were designed, but now we have come across a curious case that has given a second life to one of them and made us think about the security of access to the same.

Second life for the Anik F1R satellite

At the ShmooCon security conference in Washington, this curious experiment has been reported. As part of an investigation into the safety of satellites at the end of their useful life, the researchers managed to broadcast a program of their choice over a wide area.

Satellite Hispasat 74W-1

Satellite Hispasat 74W-1

The satellite in question is called Anik F1R and was launched to support Canadian broadcasters in 2005 and designed for 15 years of use. When it fulfilled its function, Karl Koscher and his team of computer science and engineering researchers obtained permission to operate with it, as most of the services that used it had been migrated to a new satellite.

Using an uplink license, transponder access (which enables satellite location), and dedicated satellite communications equipment, the researchers were able to send a video feed that was rebroadcast across much of the Northern Hemisphere.

Koscher and his colleagues at the telecommunications and embedded device hacking group Shadytel broadcast a live stream from another security conference, ToorCon San Diego, last October.

Almost non-existent security

This action, with this large-scale pirate broadcast, goes to show that, despite being designed to be durable, most broadcast satellites have no means of control and simply amplify the strongest signal they receive. Locating a seldom or unused satellite and having the means to send a signal to it is enough to launch a transmission to Earth.

satelite

satelite

The maneuver is also possible for used satellites, but it is not easy to succeed in squashing a signal broadcast by the broadcasting giants. However, this feat was achieved in 1986, when the group Captain Midnight took control of the Galaxy 1 satellite while a program was broadcast on HBO.

In this case, the researchers had permission to access, but the experiment highlights the interesting gray area when a defunct satellite is not being used, but has not yet moved far enough from Earth into its final resting orbit.

“Technically, there are no controls on this satellite or on most satellites; if it can generate a signal strong enough to get there, the satellite will send it back to Earth,” Koscher explained.

These security flaws could also be used to hijack broadcasts from other countries and use satellites to send propaganda, security experts have warned.

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