The hacker managed to hack into the Starlink terminal with a tool that only cost him $25.

star linkSatellite Internet SpaceXsaw that his system was compromised due to a hack by a researcher from cyber security from Belgium. Lennert Wouters managed to hack the service’s antennas with a homemade tool that cost him only $25.

in Black Hat Security Conference, Wouters -who is associated with the cybersecurity firm K. W. Levene- demonstrated the method by which he carried out a computer attack on a Starlink satellite dish owned by Elon Musk.

As part of a conversation on the phone “Crash on Earth by Humans”the researcher explained that after analyzing and discovering vulnerabilities selected antenna, he was able to access the Starlink terminal to create his own code. Thus, Wouters showed that since there are a large number of terminals supporting the service, they are more likely to be exposed by cybercriminals. “opening the door for an attacker to freely explore the network”.

Hacking Starlink for just $25

Wouters built a special circuit board -modchip- that uses a Raspberry Pi microcontroller, a flash drive, electronic switches and a voltage regulator to put their analysis into practice. After it has been connected to the plate star link physically, the circuit causes the voltage to be unable to bypass the safety measures as it goes through different startup phases when the antenna is turned on.

According to what the researcher explains, his tool generates a glitch in the first bootloader to then install the firmware, which continues the process, but control of the terminal is already in the attacker’s hands. Through the device, you can access Dishi McFlatface – antennas star link- because a technical problem is generated that gives access to parts that should have been locked from the beginning.

The tool creates an “irreparable problem” in the antennas and also allows the person who violated the system to execute arbitrary code and thus explore the network star link. Wouters pointed out that the attack is extremely difficult as it takes a lot of time and effort to be able to “break” antenna barriers, in addition to not being as dangerous as it doesn’t allow things like causing failures in the connection or in the work of the satellites.

Earlier, Wouters also identified other shortcomings in star link Being a permanent employee Crowd of beetles, a portal where those who find vulnerabilities are rewarded and report them to the relevant companies. On this occasion, the researcher mentioned that the only way to fix this error is to create a new version of the main antenna chip.

Starlink reacts to discovery

A few hours after the publication of his find, star link released a white paper explaining all the ways the company protects its systems, while also acknowledging that the work done by Wouters “technically impressive, the first of its kind they knew about in their system”.

However, he also said that due to the “least privilege” design that star linkthe company can limit the scope of cyberattacks with its own installation kit, and also add that the fact of a physical request of the user’s terminal and a direct attack on the antenna boot system, the rest of your satellite Internet infrastructure and “ordinary users” do not need to worry about this or take any additional security measures.

We recommend you METADATA, an RPP tech podcast. News, analytics, reviews, recommendations and everything you need to know about the world of technology. To hear better, #StayHome.