The failure affected at least 27,000 people across Europe.
In the early morning of February 24, when Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine , the KA-SAT satellite (owned by Viasat since last year), which provides Europe with the Internet, was hacked. According to Wired, the attack took place on the ground infrastructure, not the satellite itself, but resulted in thousands of people being left without access to the Internet.
The shutdown affected residents of both Ukraine and EU countries from Poland to France. Despite the fact that a month has passed since the failure, its consequences are still noticeable. Thousands of people are still without access to the Internet – including 2,000 in Germany – companies are trying to replace damaged modems and update software to keep in touch.
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The attack is being investigated by US and European intelligence agencies. The publication notes that this is the largest cyber attack since the beginning of the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, it is distinguished by the fact that its consequences are noticeable far beyond our country. The purpose of the attack, as well as who carried it out, remain unclear. Although experts have assumptions.
Viasat spokesman Chris Phillips called the attack on the network “a deliberate, isolated and external cyber event.” The attack affected only fixed broadband customers and did not disrupt airlines or Viasat's government customers in the United States. But people's modems could not connect to the network and were “rendered useless.”
Phillips also added that to date there is no evidence of damage to the KA-SAT satellite itself. Viasat said that the cyberattack was the result of incorrect settings in the “control section” of its network, which was first reported by Reuters. The company declined to provide any details on the technical nature of the incident, citing an ongoing investigation. Viasat says it is currently focused on recovering from a partial failure.
No government has officially linked the attack to Russia, although it is possible that it could have been aimed at undermining communications in Ukraine. However, the publication emphasizes that such accusations rarely follow the attack immediately, as the circumstances of the attack are being investigated.
It will be recalled that hackers from all over the world sided with Ukraine in the war unleashed by Russian President Vladimir Putin . They have already managed to hack the websites of Russian government agencies, Russian media, TV channels and banks.
