Using just $25 worth of parts, a Belgian researcher created a tool, used it to break into the Starlink satellite network, and ran custom code on the system, Wired reports. Starlink already wants to have fixed the problem with updates.
Elon Musk's Starlink has already put more than 3.000 small satellites into orbit. This satellite network transmits Internet connections to hard-to-reach places around the world and was an important source of connectivity during the Russian war in Ukraine. Thousands more satellites are planned for launch. Now Belgian researcher Lennert Wouters has hacked these satellite components.
Hack: $25 hardware would suffice
At the Black Hat security conference in Las Vegas, Wouters will detail how a number of hardware vulnerabilities allow an attacker to access the Starlink system and run custom code on the devices.
To access the satellite dish's software, Wouters disassembled a dish he bought, creating a custom hacking tool that plugs into the Starlink dish. The hacking tool, a circuit board, uses off-the-shelf parts costing around $25. No sooner connected than the fault injection attack was launched, temporarily shorting out the system to bypass Starlink's security measures.
More at Wired.com