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Key points
- In 2012, a Chinese network-based hacking attack on the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) “allowed ‘full functional control’ over JPL networks,” the report says.
- According to the report, China has many other counterspace technologies, including ascending kinetic destruction vehicles (anti-satellite missiles).
- In 2019, India demonstrated anti-satellite missile (A-Sat) technology on March 27 that gave India a ‘kinetic kill’ option to destroy enemy satellites.
New Delhi: A report from the US-based China Institute for Aerospace Studies (CASI) has claimed that China attacked India’s satellite communications in 2017, among other counterspace activities. The 142-page report says that between 2012 and 2018, China carried out multiple cyberattacks even as the Indian Space Research Organization maintains that its systems have not been compromised so far.
In 2012, a Chinese network-based hacking attack on the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) “allowed ‘full functional control’ over JPL networks,” the report says by listing some of these attacks.
According to the report, China has many other counterspace technologies, including ascent kinetic destruction vehicles (anti-satellite missiles), coorbital satellites, directed energy weapons, jammers, and cyber capabilities, which are intended to threaten adversary space. Earth-to-orbit geosynchronous systems (SEO).
In particular, in 2019, India had demonstrated anti-satellite missile (A-Sat) technology on March 27 that gave India a ‘kinetic kill’ option to destroy enemy satellites.
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What are the risks?
A recent report from the US Pentagon also said that the PLA continues to acquire and develop technologies that China could use to “blind and deafen the enemy.” Tobby Simon of the Synergia Foundation, a group of strategic experts, said: “… One of the greatest ubiquitous weaknesses in all satellite systems is the use of long-range telemetry for communication with base stations. Uplinks and downlinks are often transmitted through open telecommunications security protocols that can be compromised. We have to admit that there are no absolute air gaps in cybersecurity, and as more private companies enter the industry, it would be an onerous task for them to invest in active defense. “
A 2019 report published by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace also said that while India demonstrated its A-Sat interceptors, China has the ability to mount sophisticated cyberattacks targeting ground stations with the intention of corrupting or hijacking systems used to control the spaceships. /satelite. “China has investments in the development of ground, air and space radio frequency jammers that target the up, down and cross links involved in controlling space systems or data transmission,” the report read.
ISRO President Says Threat Perception Is Not Unique To India
However, many say ISRO has been unable to identify the sources of cyberattacks over the years. “Cyber threats are a fact, but it is not possible to determine who is behind such attacks. We have systems to alert us and I don’t think we have ever compromised, “said a senior scientist, adding that” the Chinese may have tried and failed. ” ISRO President K Sivan has denied having direct knowledge of such an attack on Indian ground stations. “The perception of threat is always there and it is not unique to India. We are safe, ”he said. He said the country has an independent and isolated network that is not connected to the public domain, including the Internet, which has kept its systems safe.
The news comes even as the Foreign Ministry has raised the problem that the Chinese company Zhenhua Data Information spies on prominent Indian leaders.
