State-sponsored cyber attacks by China have since long been blamed for targeting several nations. In fact, the country has been allegedly conducting such cyber attacks on its neighbouring nation India for more than a decade. A new report now claims that these cyber attacks by China are not restricted to land systems and instead, even target satellite communications.
The claims have been made in a new study published by the China Aerospace Studies Institute (CASI), a US-based research institute. The report highlights a slew of counter-space activities conducted by China since 2007.
The 142-page report mentions that China carried out multiple such cyber-attacks between 2012 and 2018. A notable one was conducted in 2012, when a Chinese network based computer attacked NASA¡¯s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). The cyber attack ¡°allowed ¡®full functional control¡¯ over JPL networks,¡± as per the report.
The report also highlights the computer network attack against Indian satellite communications in 2017. Through the attack, China was aiming to disrupt something as critical as satellite communications. ISRO, while admitting the constant threat from cyber-attacks, maintains that its systems have not been compromised till now.
A report by TOI cites multiple insiders at ISRO being clueless about the origins of any cyber attacks on the Indian space agency. ¡°Cyber threats are a given but it cannot be ascertained who are behind such attacks. We¡¯ve systems in place to alert us and I don¡¯t think we¡¯ve ever been compromised,¡± a senior scientist was quoted as saying. ¡°The Chinese may have tried and failed,¡± the source said.
ISRO chairman K Sivan also denied any direct knowledge of such a cyber attack on Indian ground stations. ¡°The threat perception is always there and it¡¯s not unique to India. We are secure,¡± he said. He highlighted that India has ¡°an independent and isolated network which is not connected to the public domain, including the Internet¡±, thus keeping its systems safe.
With the space race advancing like never before, countries are looking to counter space capabilities of other nations. India demonstrated Anti-Satellite (A-Sat) missile technology for the same last year, wherein a ¡®kinetic kill¡¯ option will be able to destroy enemy satellites.
As per CASI, China has multiple other counter-space technologies. These technologies are able to target adversary space systems right from ground based communication to geosynchronous orbit (GEO).
¡°These include direct-ascent kinetic-kill vehicles (anti-satellite missiles), co-orbital satellites, directed-energy weapons, jammers, and cyber capabilities,¡± the report mentions. CASI further asserts that the PLA still continues to acquire and develop technologies that can be used to ¡°blind and deafen the enemy¡±. In line with its consistent cyber attacks on other nations, it might not be long before China brings these technologies to use in its attacks.