Among the world’s leading astronomical observatories have reported cyberattacks which have resulted in temporary shutdowns.
The National Science Foundation’s National Optical-Infrared Astronomy Research Laboratory, or NOIRLab, reported that a cybersecurity incident that occurred on Aug. 1 has prompted the lab to temporarily halt operations at its Gemini North Telescope in Hawaii and Gemini South Telescope in Chile. Other, smaller telescopes on Cerro Tololo in Chile were also affected.
“Our staff are working with cybersecurity experts to get all of the impacted telescopes and our website back online as soon as possible and are encouraged by the progress made up to now,” NOIRLab wrote in a statement on its website on Aug. 24.
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It’s unclear exactly what the character of the cyberattacks were or from where they originated. NOIRLab points out that since the investigation continues to be ongoing, the organization will probably be cautious about what information it shares in regards to the intrusions.
“We plan to supply the community with more information after we are in a position to, in alignment with our commitment to transparency in addition to our dedication to the safety of our infrastructure,” the update added.
The cyberattacks on NOIRLab’s facilities occurred just days before america National Counterintelligence and Security Center (NCSC) issued a bulletin advising American space firms and research organizations in regards to the threat of cyberattacks and espionage.
Foreign spies and hackers “recognize the importance of the industrial space industry to the U.S. economy and national security, including the growing dependence of critical infrastructure on space-based assets,” the bulletin stated. “They see US space-related innovation and assets as potential threats in addition to invaluable opportunities to accumulate vital technologies and expertise.”
This is not the primary time that astronomical observatories have been the goal of cyberattacks. In Oct. 2022, hackers disrupted operations on the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) in Chile, and NASA has been the victim of cyberattacks for years. In 2021, the agency was affected by the worldwide SolarWinds breach that NASA leadership called a “big wakeup call” for cybersecurity.