NASA Confirms One Of Its Satellites Was Hacked. Laser Attack INC!

Hacking is some dastardly shit. Though sort of interesting. Last month we heard that US drones were infected with a virus. Today? Today we’re hearing NASA has had one of its satellites hacked.

io9:

 An upcoming Congressional report suggests that NASA satellites have been hacked four times in recent years, possibly by people involved with the Chinese military. NASA isn’t confirming all of that – but they do admit “suspicious events” have occurred.

Talking Points Memo‘s Carl Franzen has published an email from NASA Public Affairs Officer Trent J. Perotto, in which he addressed the congressional report’s claims that an unknown party hacked and gained operational control of two NASA earth observation satellites, Terra AM-1 and Landsat-7 (pictured above). Here’s part of Perotto’s statement:

NASA experienced two suspicious events with the Terra spacecraft in the summer and fall of 2008. We can confirm that there was no manipulation of data, no commands were successfully sent to the satellite, and no data was captured. NASA notified the Department of Defense, which is responsible for investigating any attempted interference with satellite operations.

Perotto declined to discuss the incidents with Landsat-7 on the grounds that that satellite was built by NASA for the US Geological Survey, and that organization now has sole responsibility for the satellite. Perotto also did not address the report’s claims that “the attacks bore hallmarks of the Chinese military, or someone affiliated with the inner-workings of the Chinese military.” However, he did stress that NASA has taken steps to increase its security and guard against future threats.

Chinese hacking NASA satellites? Fallout 3 GET.