Since the beginning of Viasat’s KA-SAT satellite service outage, it has been a mystery how the modems of consumer users became inoperative. As a reminder, more than 72,000 modems in Europe, including around 10,000 in France, have been inoperative since February 24.
A spokesperson for Viasat has just disclosed the first elements to Reuters. He evasively mentions a bad configuration in the “management section” of the satellite network that would have allowed hackers to remotely access modems. It also confirms, as we wrote last week, that most devices now require the intervention of a technician on site, or repair and that some will have to be replaced.
It was known that Viasat had hired a third-party cybersecurity company to investigate this computer intrusion. Reuters reveals that it is Mandiant, an American company which is being acquired by Google.
The NSA is also investigating
Since the company Viasat is American and a subcontractor of the United States and its allies, the NSA (National Security Agency) has also been involved from the start.
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NSA analysts would work in cooperation with the French agency ANSSI, as well as Ukrainian intelligence services according to Reuters. They are investigating whether the incident was indeed due to Russian state-backed hackers who allegedly acted in coordination with the Russian offensive in Ukraine.
The Reuters agency has in any case had contracts showing that the KA-SAT satellite provided Internet connectivity to the Ukrainian army and police. They are accessible from ProZorro, the Ukrainian public procurement transparency platform. The country’s military and security services have purchased several communication systems that operate on Viasat’s network.
Source: Reuters