*The malfunction of the Ka-Sat satellite since the day of the Russian invasion in Ukraine is not a coincidence. While the track of a cyberattack has been mentioned for several days, it has been confirmed by the French space command.*
*The track of the computer attack against a satellite is now confirmed – at least by the French General Staff. At a press briefing held by the Ministry of the Armed Forces on March 3, 2022, the space command confirmed that the origin of the malfunction observed on the Ka-Sat satellite since February 24 is indeed a cyberattack.*
***A cyber attack against a satellite***
*General Michel Friedling, head of the space command, has made this known publicly. His speech, summarized on Twitter by journalist Vincent Lamigeon, mentions an operation against the ViaSat satellite network, which operates Ka-Sat. The satellite, which covers Europe and especially Ukraine, has since then encountered difficulties in operating.*
*It is noteworthy that the French army mentions this cyber event, because the details of this type of incident are not usually communicated. However, the framework was appropriate, as the ministry mentioned the main actions carried out by the space command in 2021, as well as the second edition of the space exercise AsterX, which took place from February 24 to March 4.*
*The department, however, refrains from moving to the attribution stage, i.e., pointing the finger at someone responsible for the cyberattack. The case is, of course, a sensitive one: if, given the circumstances, all eyes are on Russia, Paris obviously intends to spare Moscow in the perspective of maintaining a diplomatic dialogue about the war in Ukraine.*
*But in the past, Paris has not always taken the gloves off. In 2018, the Minister of the Armed Forces Florence Parly had made public a space incident, claiming that the Russian satellite Louch Olymp had come “a little too close” to Athena Fidus, a French-Italian satellite, in orbit since 2014 and dedicated to military communications.*
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*This cyber event, which was envisaged very early, was detected on February 24, the day of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Since then, the situation is still not fully resolved, including in France, because the satellite is used by the operator NordNet to market subscriptions. The number of victims in France is estimated at several tens of thousands.*
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*The malfunction of the Ka-Sat satellite since the day of the Russian invasion in Ukraine is not a coincidence. While the track of a cyberattack has been mentioned for several days, it has been confirmed by the French space command.*
*The track of the computer attack against a satellite is now confirmed – at least by the French General Staff. At a press briefing held by the Ministry of the Armed Forces on March 3, 2022, the space command confirmed that the origin of the malfunction observed on the Ka-Sat satellite since February 24 is indeed a cyberattack.*
***A cyber attack against a satellite***
*General Michel Friedling, head of the space command, has made this known publicly. His speech, summarized on Twitter by journalist Vincent Lamigeon, mentions an operation against the ViaSat satellite network, which operates Ka-Sat. The satellite, which covers Europe and especially Ukraine, has since then encountered difficulties in operating.*
*It is noteworthy that the French army mentions this cyber event, because the details of this type of incident are not usually communicated. However, the framework was appropriate, as the ministry mentioned the main actions carried out by the space command in 2021, as well as the second edition of the space exercise AsterX, which took place from February 24 to March 4.*
*The department, however, refrains from moving to the attribution stage, i.e., pointing the finger at someone responsible for the cyberattack. The case is, of course, a sensitive one: if, given the circumstances, all eyes are on Russia, Paris obviously intends to spare Moscow in the perspective of maintaining a diplomatic dialogue about the war in Ukraine.*
*But in the past, Paris has not always taken the gloves off. In 2018, the Minister of the Armed Forces Florence Parly had made public a space incident, claiming that the Russian satellite Louch Olymp had come “a little too close” to Athena Fidus, a French-Italian satellite, in orbit since 2014 and dedicated to military communications.*
​
*This cyber event, which was envisaged very early, was detected on February 24, the day of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Since then, the situation is still not fully resolved, including in France, because the satellite is used by the operator NordNet to market subscriptions. The number of victims in France is estimated at several tens of thousands.*