
China hacked two US satellites in '07 and '08 - jfruh
http://www.itworld.com/security/225643/two-us-satellites-pwned-07-08-new-report-blames-china
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Roboprog
Nothing stays secret forever, so it's probably time to create new satellites
with upgraded interfaces. Them's the breaks.

Off-shoring most electronics manufacture in the US is probably a "Battlestar
Galactica" size mistake, though. Even if our super-military grade electronics
are home grown, where will we get the expertise to continue to make such
without a domestic industry?

~~~
jrockway
What country do you think most of the advanced microprocessors are made in?
The US has a lot of experience building super-expensive fabs and mass-
producing amazingly complex microprocessors, which is why if you look into
your computer, you'll notice that your processor was made in the US, not
China.

~~~
redstripe
For those that care:

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_semiconductor_fabricati...](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_semiconductor_fabrication_plants)

Nvidia uses TSMC/UMC, AMD uses GlobalFoundries

~~~
Roboprog
Thanks for the list. I'm a bit surprised to learn most of these are still in
the US. There are quite a few in various Asian countries, though, including
China.

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ChuckMcM
_"In 2007 the Chinese military launched a ballistic missile into orbit to
destroy an obsolete Chinese weather satellite. It scared the hell out of NASA
because of the sudden cloud of new debris in orbit (which at one point forced
astronauts to leave the International Space Station to during one dangerous
pass by the debris."_

This was by far the more onerous problem. What many folks don't internalize is
that there is an interesting balance between being able to be in orbit, and
the junk there. Once it exceeds a certain density the existing satellites will
become victims to collisions, their debris will add to the junk which will
take out all of the rest. One computer model has all of 'low earth' orbit from
100 - 150 miles out being destroyed (including the ISS) with the destruction
of as few as 5 satellites. Actually deploying a debris field could render
earth orbit unusable with 2 launches. What is worse is once you have this mass
of junk up there you can't relaunch new satellites to recover, they won't
survive. And you can't launch to Geo because you can't get through the swamp,
game over for space assets.

Pretty much the space activity for the next decade after that event is cleanup
strategies.

~~~
Retric
That's not really true in LEO or above geosynchronous orbit. Small objects
can't stay in LEO for vary long because of atmospheric drag. And above
geosynchronous orbit most existing satellites don't have enough energy for
pieces of them to reach that orbit. Realistically, you can also design
redundant systems that can withstand a lot of impacts without failing. So,
while you could destroy a lot of what's up there after a few years people
could start putting things back into orbit.

PS: I would look at a lot of this stuff as a combination of misinformation and
requests for a larger budget. The single most important hacking indecent
involved a few small group of teenagers that exploited some mail servers and
caused enough havoc that nuking the city that the attacks seemed to be
originating from was on the table. Read up on "Solar Sunrise" and don't fuck
with NORAD they don't feel the need to play nice.

------
ypcx
"Bockris further advises that interface with Ono-Sendai Cyberspace 7 is
entirely compatible and yields optimal penetration capabilities, particularly
with regard to existing military systems...."

"How about an AI?"

"Existing military systems and artificial intelligences."

"Jesus Christ. What did you call it?"

"Kuang Grade Mark Eleven."

"It's Chinese?"

"Yes."

Wiliam Gibson, Neuromancer, 1984

~~~
gojomo
_The military and diplomatic communications of the preceding fifty years
showed before the light of their minds. At the same time as they surveyed the
satellite data, Mr. Slippery and Erythrina swept through these bureaucratic
communications, looking carefully but with flickering speed at every
requisition for toilet paper, every "declaration" of secret war, every travel
voucher, everyone of the trillions of pieces of "'paper" that made it possible
for the machinery of state to creak forward. And here the signs were much
clearer; large sections were subtly changed, giving the same feeling the eye's
blind spot gives, the feeling that nothing is really obscured but that some
things are simply gone. Some of the distortions were immense. Under their
microscopic yet global scrutiny, it was obvious that all of Venezuela, large
parts of Alaska, and most of the economic base for the low satellite net were
all controlled by some single interest that had little Connection with the
proper owners. Who their enemy was still a mystery, but his works loomed
larger and larger around them._

Vernor Vinge, _True Names_ , 1981

~~~
nl
Vinge makes any other writer look like they lack vision.

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jackfoxy
It is important to note, these were not intelligence satellites. This is more
like the Chinese government doing what some of the hacker sub culture has done
for a long time: rattle the lock and see how easy it is to open. Presumably
security was not a big concern, because how many jerks would have the means to
hack into these? And what could you accomplish other than vandalism? As it
turns out, now we know. Live and learn.

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jdhouse4
Wow, and almost a month after AmericaSpace.org broke this story.

<http://www.americaspace.org/?p=9946>

~~~
WestCoastJustin
This is from the "2011 REPORT TO CONGRESS of the U.S.-CHINA ECONOMIC AND
SECURITY REVIEW COMMISSION" report. Just giving a breakdown of the current
state. This was not a flash message or a breaking news report. The time for
the breaking news was in '07 and '08 _not_ in 2011 ;)

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hohohmm
The report didn't pin it on China. What kinda moronic title is this?

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gnat
Because of language and the Chinese govt's lack of openness, we don't hear of
Chinese satellites or companies pwned by American hackers. I wonder how much
US-initiated cyberwhatevorrism takes place.

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AznHisoka
i worry... i worry...

~~~
williamshen
it's really a joke ,i think.

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mkat
comforting, not.

