Increased Attacks on SATCOM Observed

This report describes growing threats to satellite communications used in maritime operations, highlighting the KA-SAT/Viasat outage and research findings that many vessel VSAT Antenna Control Units (ACUs) are exposed online with default credentials or open ports; attackers could manipulate satellite profiles, navigation settings, firmware, and transmit zones, causing loss of connectivity, navigation spoofing, crew safety risks, and wider operational disruption. The document includes investigation findings, impact analysis, and practical mitigation recommendations (network exposure minimization, patching, strong passwords, monitoring, and threat intelligence integration).