SatelliteSecure Inc., a leading provider of commercial satellite communication services, experienced a catastrophic cyberattack in September 2023, characterized by an unprecedented level of sophistication. An external entity managed to penetrate the company's ground control stations through a previously undetected vulnerability, leading to a temporary loss of control over its satellite constellation. This breach resulted in a disruption of critical communication services provided to various sectors, including aviation, maritime transport, and emergency response teams. The attackers deployed a malware strain designed specifically to target the company’s proprietary satellite command and control systems. Despite the swift response from SatelliteSecure's cybersecurity team, the attack led to several hours of service outage, affecting millions of users globally and causing significant financial losses estimated to be in the tens of millions of dollars. The company's quick recovery actions and transparent communication with affected parties helped mitigate potential longer-term impacts on its reputation and customer trust.
Source: https://www.lse.ac.uk/ideas/projects/space-policy/publications/Cyberattacks-on-Satellites
TPRM report: https://scoringcyber.rankiteo.com/company/satellitesecure-inc
"id": "sat321050624",
"linkid": "satellitesecure-inc",
"type": "Breach",
"date": "09/2023",
"severity": "100",
"impact": "5",
"explanation": "Attack threatening the organization’s existence"{'affected_entities': [{'customers_affected': 'Millions of users globally',
'industry': 'Telecommunications',
'name': 'SatelliteSecure Inc.',
'type': 'Commercial satellite communication services '
'provider'}],
'attack_vector': 'Exploitation of undetected vulnerability in ground control '
'stations',
'date_detected': 'September 2023',
'description': 'SatelliteSecure Inc., a leading provider of commercial '
'satellite communication services, experienced a catastrophic '
'cyberattack in September 2023, characterized by an '
'unprecedented level of sophistication. An external entity '
"managed to penetrate the company's ground control stations "
'through a previously undetected vulnerability, leading to a '
'temporary loss of control over its satellite constellation. '
'This breach resulted in a disruption of critical '
'communication services provided to various sectors, including '
'aviation, maritime transport, and emergency response teams. '
'The attackers deployed a malware strain designed specifically '
'to target the company’s proprietary satellite command and '
'control systems. Despite the swift response from '
"SatelliteSecure's cybersecurity team, the attack led to "
'several hours of service outage, affecting millions of users '
'globally and causing significant financial losses estimated '
"to be in the tens of millions of dollars. The company's quick "
'recovery actions and transparent communication with affected '
'parties helped mitigate potential longer-term impacts on its '
'reputation and customer trust.',
'impact': {'brand_reputation_impact': 'Potential longer-term impacts '
'mitigated by quick recovery and '
'transparent communication',
'downtime': 'Several hours',
'financial_loss': 'Tens of millions of dollars',
'operational_impact': 'Disruption of critical communication '
'services to various sectors',
'systems_affected': 'Ground control stations, satellite '
'constellation, satellite command and control '
'systems'},
'initial_access_broker': {'entry_point': 'Ground control stations'},
'post_incident_analysis': {'root_causes': 'Undetected vulnerability in ground '
'control stations'},
'response': {'communication_strategy': 'Transparent communication with '
'affected parties',
'recovery_measures': 'Quick recovery actions and transparent '
'communication with affected parties'},
'threat_actor': 'External entity',
'title': 'SatelliteSecure Inc. Cyberattack',
'type': 'Cyberattack',
'vulnerability_exploited': 'Undetected vulnerability in ground control '
'stations'}