00:00:00
foreign
00:00:04
here's the hook right now perhaps
00:00:07
already sold but I don't currently have
00:00:09
any indication of that there is a
00:00:10
plausibly legitimate offer online
00:00:12
selling access to a maxar Technology's
00:00:15
military satellite the offer is visible
00:00:17
on a prominent Russian hacking form for
00:00:19
obvious reasons I won't actually be
00:00:20
disclosing the name or address of the
00:00:22
site in this video which is also
00:00:24
available not just on the dark net but
00:00:26
on the clear net as well important
00:00:28
distinction here much of what can be
00:00:29
categorized as online criminal activity
00:00:31
at least more serious instances of such
00:00:33
activity takes place on the dark web
00:00:35
through special access points however
00:00:38
the clear net a more visible searchable
00:00:40
and regulated area of the internet where
00:00:42
things like YouTube and Facebook exist
00:00:44
can also be used for nearly unbelievable
00:00:46
amount of high stakes activities if you
00:00:48
know where to look my source knows where
00:00:51
to look and thus today I bring you a
00:00:53
plausible story about access to a
00:00:55
military satellite being sold for just
00:00:57
fifteen thousand dollars let's get into
00:00:59
it who is maxar Technologies well for
00:01:02
starters the satellite allegedly being
00:01:04
sold online belongs to their company
00:01:06
obviously but what do they actually do
00:01:08
according to their website about page
00:01:10
quote maxar is a leading space
00:01:12
technology and intelligence company we
00:01:14
unlock the promise of space to help
00:01:16
governments and businesses solve
00:01:18
problems on Earth and Beyond end quote
00:01:20
reading on one can discover that maxar
00:01:22
self-asserts to have partnered with over
00:01:24
50 governments to monitor the Earth's
00:01:26
surface and deliver Broadband
00:01:27
communication they've existed for over
00:01:29
60 years and maintain custody of what's
00:01:31
called a constellation of Imaging
00:01:33
satellites which can scan the Earth's
00:01:34
surface gather high resolution images
00:01:36
and provide sensitive data to their
00:01:38
customers all in all maxar is an
00:01:41
industry leader in proprietary
00:01:42
government-serving satellite technology
00:01:44
with a somewhat loose overview of what
00:01:47
the company actually does a more
00:01:48
important question looms overhead how do
00:01:51
they relate to the current War
00:01:52
truthfully the impact that maxar
00:01:54
satellites have had on Modern conflict
00:01:55
zones can't really even be overstated
00:01:57
it's a tremendous unknown where the only
00:01:59
real claim would be that they are
00:02:01
essential in multiple separate
00:02:02
capacities but on the public side we do
00:02:05
have an indication of just how integral
00:02:07
the company has now become based on
00:02:09
their surveillance and reporting of the
00:02:10
war in Ukraine example seen here from
00:02:12
The Wall Street Journal nearly every
00:02:14
single major new Syndicate publication
00:02:16
or professional analyst in all of the
00:02:18
West uses imagery from maxar
00:02:20
Technologies in their process even
00:02:22
further as of February 2023 maxar had
00:02:25
received a 192 million dollar five-year
00:02:28
contract awarded by the National
00:02:29
geospatial Intelligence Agency supplying
00:02:32
imagery to U.S Allied countries quote
00:02:34
U.S allies will have on-demand access to
00:02:37
high-resolution satellite imagery and
00:02:38
analytics the company said they will
00:02:40
also get maxar's enhanced 3D immersive
00:02:43
maps that combine satellite imagery with
00:02:44
video to replicate Real World locations
00:02:46
end quote in summary maxar Technologies
00:02:49
is an integral part of the US Military
00:02:51
Intelligence industry let's call it an
00:02:53
integral part of the war in Ukraine and
00:02:55
a developing private sector Authority on
00:02:57
satellite surveillance they provide
00:02:58
Operational Support in a digital age
00:03:00
with a multitude of contracts including
00:03:02
a separate 3.2 billion dollar deal from
00:03:05
the national reconnaissance office
00:03:07
supplying satellite imagery to the US
00:03:09
government for the next 10 plus years
00:03:11
One Last Detail as of November 2022
00:03:14
reported by the universe space Tech
00:03:16
maxar was beginning to Supply Mobile
00:03:17
terminals also referred to as tactical
00:03:19
terminals with quote a huge number of
00:03:22
requests from government organizations
00:03:24
end quote these terminals provide direct
00:03:26
connectivity to their satellites and are
00:03:28
being offered for a variety of strategic
00:03:30
purposes to a lot of different third
00:03:31
parties so why does it matter well for
00:03:34
complete context we need to look now at
00:03:35
statements from Russia with regards to
00:03:37
private sector satellites and Rules of
00:03:39
Engagement also reported by universe
00:03:42
space Tech just one month later quote
00:03:43
Russia is ramping up efforts to take
00:03:46
down starlink internet over Ukraine the
00:03:48
story focuses on communication outages
00:03:50
at the beginning of the war but it
00:03:52
doesn't stop there from the center for
00:03:54
strategic and International Studies
00:03:55
quote Russia threatens to Target
00:03:57
commercial satellites on October 27 a
00:04:00
senior Russian foreign Ministry official
00:04:01
warned that commercial Satellites May
00:04:03
become a legitimate Target it for
00:04:05
retaliation commercial space systems
00:04:07
like spacex's starlink communication
00:04:08
satellites and maxar's Fleet of Imaging
00:04:10
satellites are playing a highly visible
00:04:12
and compelling role in Ukraine's
00:04:13
resistance to the Russian invasion end
00:04:15
quote that's fairly blunt very
00:04:18
straightforward and indicates the
00:04:19
current level of scrutiny that private
00:04:21
sector satellite operators are under see
00:04:23
Russia has hacked satellites before most
00:04:25
notably an American company called
00:04:27
ViaSat just slightly before the initial
00:04:29
Invasion knocking out enemy
00:04:30
communication can have a wide range of
00:04:32
strategic impacts but the point here is
00:04:34
to demonstrate that satellite hacking is
00:04:36
was and will always be a legitimate
00:04:39
danger information on this subject was
00:04:41
sourced from multiple Outlets primary
00:04:43
among them a publication called
00:04:44
kaisernet which holds a conference on
00:04:46
connected battlefields and digital
00:04:48
infrastructure speaker David E tremper
00:04:50
the director for electronic warfare
00:04:52
supporting the platforms and weapons
00:04:54
portfolio manager in the office of the
00:04:56
under secretary of defense for
00:04:57
Acquisitions and sustainment which is an
00:04:59
incredibly long job title by the way
00:05:01
anyway speaker David E tremper discussed
00:05:04
the implica locations of these new
00:05:05
Battle Tactics if you will also calling
00:05:07
out that private sector companies like
00:05:09
starlink are quicker on their feet when
00:05:11
compared to government counterparts
00:05:12
showcasing the need for agility and a
00:05:15
rapidly evolving threat landscape and
00:05:16
also that's good to hear private
00:05:18
companies being effective at their job
00:05:19
is what we want in this economy in
00:05:22
essence we know that Russia has and will
00:05:24
continue to Target commercial satellites
00:05:26
we know that maxar technology now
00:05:28
provides billions of dollars worth of
00:05:30
services to dozens of United States
00:05:31
allies with a quote huge number of
00:05:34
mobile terminal requests active at the
00:05:36
moment and we know that hacking
00:05:38
satellites is very possible how do we
00:05:40
know that last bit well it's actually
00:05:42
pretty simple for starters the industry
00:05:44
has incredibly lacks standards on
00:05:46
security reported by via satellite in
00:05:48
2019 written by Sean Waterman and
00:05:51
referencing a statement by Harrison
00:05:52
Cottle the founder of orbital security
00:05:54
Alliance quote the question everyone has
00:05:56
been asking here and they're asking it
00:05:58
at other space industry conferences I've
00:06:00
attended is what do we need to do to
00:06:02
secure our space assets later continuing
00:06:05
the state of cyber security from a
00:06:07
vendor perspective is pretty broken
00:06:08
right now there's a lot of money that's
00:06:10
going into the sector and it's following
00:06:11
a traditional Silicon Valley venture
00:06:13
capital model of let's bet on a lot of
00:06:16
different ideas and see what comes out
00:06:18
best when one fails there's another one
00:06:20
right behind it end quote to put it
00:06:22
bluntly a shot down approach to
00:06:24
satellite cyber security is not the same
00:06:26
as an innovation push to develop a new
00:06:28
smartphone application where you order
00:06:30
food online a huge number of improperly
00:06:32
planned and executed ideas in this Arena
00:06:35
only to then sync resources into the
00:06:37
most successful version alone works fine
00:06:39
in particular Industries but for a
00:06:41
multi-billion dollar satellite
00:06:42
surveillance industry where the
00:06:43
consequences of a mistake are Amplified
00:06:45
exponentially well maybe there should be
00:06:48
some actual standards regardless the
00:06:50
current state of the industry isn't even
00:06:51
where the historical context stops
00:06:53
because when evaluating the current
00:06:54
maxar Technology's predicament we need
00:06:56
to remember something else as well it's
00:06:58
happened before see as far back as 2008
00:07:02
hackers successfully interfered with not
00:07:04
one one but two U.S government
00:07:06
satellites but they didn't just
00:07:07
interfere that's an incredibly sanitized
00:07:09
way of putting it likely meant to
00:07:11
downplay the situation and the severity
00:07:13
they infiltrated and according to
00:07:15
Bloomberg businessweek at the time took
00:07:17
full command and control thankfully no
00:07:20
catastrophic commands were issued during
00:07:22
the few minutes where hackers appeared
00:07:23
to have total command and control of the
00:07:25
satellite but we need to remember what
00:07:26
that level of control actually means for
00:07:29
surveillance satellites it means that
00:07:30
they can take pictures of whatever they
00:07:32
want they can compromise Security in a
00:07:33
horrifying way if that satellite happens
00:07:35
to be part of an active conflict Zone
00:07:37
but they can also if they acquire access
00:07:39
to satellite thrusters exert physical
00:07:41
control according to a piece written in
00:07:44
the science section of Delta the
00:07:45
University of delft quote if the
00:07:48
propellants are used up the satellite
00:07:49
can only leave space naturally through
00:07:51
air resistance in this case the
00:07:53
satellite would gradually lose energy
00:07:54
and be pushed into lower altitudes and
00:07:57
ideally will ultimately burn up end
00:07:59
quote well in reference to our existing
00:08:01
example where hackers gained complete
00:08:03
Command and control role of two U.S
00:08:05
satellites in 2008 we need to understand
00:08:07
a key factor one of the satellites that
00:08:09
was compromised known as Terra am1 still
00:08:12
had plenty of propellant at the time and
00:08:14
was only decommissioned thereby burning
00:08:16
out the last of its propulsion
00:08:17
capabilities in 2020 according to NASA
00:08:20
12 years prior with command and control
00:08:23
level access attackers could have
00:08:25
theoretically dropped the satellite out
00:08:26
of orbit on a whim wherever they wanted
00:08:28
to given enough time thereby destroying
00:08:31
its capabilities entirely or even
00:08:33
impacting Earth at a strategic location
00:08:35
since the trajectory could be modified
00:08:37
by their propulsion mechanisms with the
00:08:39
right triangulation and math and would
00:08:42
not actually be out of control with
00:08:44
decreasing speed as per our prior
00:08:46
example projecting such a scenario
00:08:48
forward means catastrophic consequences
00:08:50
if a threat actor were to be so inclined
00:08:52
and have such access let's look at one
00:08:54
more relevant piece of context before
00:08:55
connecting everything back together
00:08:57
hacking a satellite rather than some
00:08:59
far-off Hollywood style concept which I
00:09:01
know some people view it to be is an
00:09:03
active reality and for absolute proof of
00:09:05
this irrefutable proof of this look no
00:09:07
further than hack a set hackasat is
00:09:09
basically a capture the flag style cyber
00:09:11
security game where teams compete to
00:09:13
accomplish a particular Mission such as
00:09:14
hacking controlling or reprogramming an
00:09:17
active satellite in this case with both
00:09:19
offensive and defensive components it's
00:09:21
a thrilling competition to watch
00:09:22
actually but the message here is that
00:09:24
satellites can absolutely be hacked with
00:09:27
a nearly insurmountable number of unique
00:09:28
ways to do so given the complexity of
00:09:30
the software involved so far hakasat has
00:09:33
had three separate competitions leading
00:09:34
to an eventual fourth round with a real
00:09:36
satellite called moonshot I believe in
00:09:39
space that will be used for training
00:09:40
purposes they have up till now used
00:09:43
software environment simulations smaller
00:09:45
scale hardware simulations and other
00:09:47
methods of conducting the games here on
00:09:48
Earth but soon there will be a gamified
00:09:50
version of hacking a real satellite
00:09:52
available as a team-based competition
00:09:54
satellite hacks are real they exist here
00:09:57
and now and they're not going anywhere
00:09:59
to really drive home my point right now
00:10:01
the first time that Defcon actually
00:10:02
tested U.S military technology it was
00:10:05
against an F-16 up till that point the
00:10:07
US military had not allowed access to
00:10:09
their actual systems hardly at all but
00:10:11
in the very first year that they did
00:10:13
which occurred in 2019 the attacks were
00:10:16
complete success a veritable Treasure
00:10:18
Trove of security holes were discovered
00:10:19
including exploits vulnerabilities and
00:10:21
even catastrophic shutdown options with
00:10:23
a wide range of damaging effects beyond
00:10:25
the aircraft itself in a world where
00:10:27
military technology is widely considered
00:10:28
to be the Pinnacle of cyber security in
00:10:30
the minds of the general public this was
00:10:32
an interesting Revelation why am I
00:10:34
saying all this well the answer is
00:10:36
simple context very recently on a
00:10:38
well-established Russian hacking Forum
00:10:40
which I will not be naming publicly a
00:10:42
post was made by a user whose account
00:10:44
seems to have been created initially in
00:10:46
2021 offering to sell access to a maxar
00:10:49
Technologies Imaging satellite for
00:10:51
fifteen thousand dollars quote hello
00:10:53
Community good evening today I'm putting
00:10:55
my access to satellite for sale it is
00:10:58
run by Maxwell Technologies and you will
00:10:59
be able to see military and strategic
00:11:01
position country eligible to use the
00:11:03
satellite USA price fifteen thousand
00:11:06
dollars USD escrow accepted plus if you
00:11:09
need proof you can pm here end quote the
00:11:11
use of escrow here and an offer to prove
00:11:13
legitimacy lends Credence to the idea
00:11:15
that this may in fact be a real offering
00:11:17
looking back through this user's prior
00:11:19
postings we can see that they have
00:11:21
attempted to sell access to a slew of at
00:11:23
T accounts they've had some claimed
00:11:25
level of access to a service called
00:11:26
Apollo which appears to have been
00:11:28
legitimate even an alleged 93 000
00:11:30
personal IDs from a Brazilian Pharma
00:11:33
infiltration and the Forum itself
00:11:35
without mincing words here at all is
00:11:37
absolutely an authentic place where
00:11:39
these kinds of broker deals actually do
00:11:42
occur example there are millions of
00:11:44
Redline Steeler logs available on this
00:11:46
forum which are the primary method of
00:11:48
stealing YouTube and Google accounts the
00:11:50
shadow economy I recently discussed in a
00:11:52
prior video well some of the deals where
00:11:54
the bigger accounts get bought and sold
00:11:56
occur on forums just like this one so I
00:11:59
know that there is a level of legitimacy
00:12:00
here that's not to be trifled with
00:12:02
lightly to even gain access you need to
00:12:04
be individually approved by an
00:12:06
administrator and I won't talk too
00:12:08
deeply about what happened and how we
00:12:09
eventually got in but it wasn't exactly
00:12:11
an easy process there is a commonly used
00:12:14
xmpp server that serves as a standard
00:12:16
platform to initiate conversations about
00:12:18
possible deals and the Forum was
00:12:19
previously known under a different name
00:12:21
rebranded in and around
00:12:23
2017-2018 but the point of it all is
00:12:26
this with additional context knowing
00:12:29
that satellites can be have been and
00:12:31
will be hacked again do we believe that
00:12:33
this particular offering is legitimate
00:12:34
is there access to a military satellite
00:12:37
on sale right now perhaps already sold
00:12:39
is one of maxar Technology's Imaging
00:12:41
platforms their state-of-the-art
00:12:42
multinational multi-billion dollar
00:12:44
Imaging platforms laid bare for the
00:12:46
World by a Russian hacker and available
00:12:48
for just fifteen thousand dollars or is
00:12:50
it all a kind of hoax if I were a
00:12:52
betting man based on context and
00:12:54
verification my God tells me it's real
00:12:57
it's real and we will never hear about
00:12:59
it again as a result but in the end I
00:13:02
really don't have a clue that's the
00:13:03
God's honest truth and I will not be
00:13:05
messaging anyone individually on that
00:13:07
Forum in order to check for whatever
00:13:09
government agent ends up watching this
00:13:11
because I know that a couple government
00:13:12
people watch my content now or at least
00:13:14
have watched it in the past I didn't
00:13:16
cross any lines I didn't download a
00:13:18
single thing or look beyond my purview I
00:13:21
just looked at this story through an
00:13:23
objective lens with all of that
00:13:25
additional context what do all of you
00:13:26
think is it real is it a hoax is it
00:13:29
plausible impossible or even likely
00:13:31
where do you fall and why let me know in
00:13:33
the comment section that's my excuse to
00:13:35
spike engagement by getting you guys to
00:13:36
talk in my comment section go ahead have
00:13:38
a discussion for those curious here are
00:13:40
some of my final thoughts NASA once
00:13:43
estimated the odds of a falling
00:13:44
satellite causing harm in air quotes
00:13:46
there in a particular case this was one
00:13:48
instance to be one in
00:13:51
2467 which may seem incredibly low but
00:13:55
is it to compare here are some
00:13:57
additional statistics let's call them
00:13:59
accidental gun deaths according to
00:14:00
statista present a one in 7944
00:14:04
chance of death the probability of a
00:14:06
particular 2023 falling satellite
00:14:08
causing harm by NASA's own standards was
00:14:10
over three times higher than the
00:14:12
probability of death by accidental gun
00:14:14
discharge and over five times as likely
00:14:16
as death by electrocution radiation
00:14:18
extreme temperatures also known as
00:14:19
exposure and pressure combined we are
00:14:22
launching tens of thousands of new
00:14:25
satellites now at increasing sizes and
00:14:27
payloads more every day private sector
00:14:29
is getting on board huge companies are
00:14:31
doing this on an industrial scale and
00:14:33
there is a well-documented emphasis on
00:14:35
space as a current Frontier of War hell
00:14:37
we know for a fact that satellite this
00:14:39
is an indisputable fact that Satellites
00:14:42
with propellant reserves and movement
00:14:44
capabilities have been compromised in
00:14:46
the past with total command and control
00:14:48
as far back as 2008 while modern
00:14:50
security standards for the industry are
00:14:52
discussed with concern by experts in the
00:14:55
field due to recklessness of Silicon
00:14:58
Valley investment tactics my conclusions
00:15:00
the post has a very legitimate chance of
00:15:02
being real but even if it's not it will
00:15:05
be satellites will be compromised nation
00:15:07
states will Target private sector
00:15:09
companies with malware digital
00:15:10
infiltration Etc and we as end users
00:15:13
will be carried down the river if you
00:15:15
will by a current that we simply cannot
00:15:17
control my strategy because yeah that's
00:15:19
a little bit it's a little bit doomish
00:15:21
and you can't do anything about it and
00:15:22
oh whatever people call me a fear Monger
00:15:24
now but I'm I'm really not I just talk
00:15:25
about things that are interesting to me
00:15:27
my strategy kick back and watch hackasat
00:15:30
because I didn't even know that that
00:15:31
competition existed and now I'm hooked
00:15:33
on it it's an incredible display of
00:15:35
Ingenuity problem solving and Team
00:15:37
Dynamics leaving me frankly astounded
00:15:39
that the official competition videos
00:15:41
here on YouTube only have a couple
00:15:43
hundred views it's really cool stuff I
00:15:45
mean this should be more interesting
00:15:46
than a lot of major sports out there and
00:15:48
I'll link a full playlist in the
00:15:49
description down below for people who
00:15:50
want to check it out but yeah that's my
00:15:52
strategy I found that baffling that's a
00:15:54
really interesting thing and I don't
00:15:55
understand why more people don't engage
00:15:57
with it that's it if you want to support
00:15:58
the channel there are links down below
00:15:59
one of the main ones is a curated list
00:16:01
of cyber security products Services
00:16:03
deals and programs for individual people
00:16:05
some partnered some not but the list
00:16:07
will be an evolving project that seeks
00:16:09
to benefit both the community and the
00:16:10
Channel Wherever possible it's a work in
00:16:12
progress feedback is very much
00:16:13
appreciated but I'll cut it there and
00:16:15
stop rambling as always thank you all
00:16:16
for watching and have a nice night
00:16:20
[Music]
00:16:33
thank you
00:16:36
[Music]
