The US government has issued a warning about “potential dangers” to global satellite communication networks following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) have issued a warning, stating that they are aware of potential threats to the US and worldwide satellite communication (SATCOM) networks.
Intrusions into SATCOM networks that are successful might put network providers’ customers at risk.
The new warning came when thousands of satellite modems in Europe fell out as Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine on February 24. The impacted network was owned by Viasat, a US telecommunications company.
“Given the present geopolitical context, CISA’s ‘Shields Up’ campaign urges that all organizations dramatically decrease their reporting and sharing thresholds for signs of harmful cyber activity,” the organization stated in a statement.
CISA and the FBI urged critical infrastructure organizations and other organizations that are SATCOM network providers or consumers to study and execute the mitigations identified in this CSA to improve SATCOM network cybersecurity.
Last month, Western intelligence services opened an investigation into Viasat’s cyber-attack, which caused a massive communications disruption throughout Europe.
According to Viasat spokesperson Chris Phillips, “We currently believe this was a deliberate, isolated and external cyber event,” Viasat spokesperson Chris Phillips had said. “Viasat`s continuous and ongoing mitigation efforts have stabilized the KA-SAT network,” he added.