Hackers compete to take over a satellite… in space

The US military has organized the Hack-A-Sat 4 competition to take place during the annual Defcon hacker convention in August. The goal of the contestants is to take over a satellite in orbit around the Earth.

Eight hacker teams from the US, Australia, Italy, Poland and Germany emerged from the April qualifiers, where more than 380 teams registered. If all goes according to plan, the hackers will compete in Las Vegas during Defcon, reports Newsweek. The participants are so-called “white-hat” hackers who engage in ethical hacking, attacking systems on behalf of their owners to identify various security flaws.

The competition is organized by the US Air Force Research Laboratory. On previous occasions, the target has been a satellite that has remained down here on Earth, but this year the contestants will target an orbiting satellite.

The satellite that the hackers are targeting is called Moonlighter, and is designed to be vulnerable to hacker attacks. The satellite is about the size of a toaster and has several security features. For example, it is not equipped with its own engines. Controllers will also be able to reboot the satellite’s system and kick out any intruders if necessary.

This articles was translated from Swedish to English, and originally appeared on our sister site, PCforalla.

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