Starlink Satellite Network Wards Off Russian Cyberattacks In Ukraine, Pentagon Wants To Emulate

JAKARTA – The Pentagon recently announced that Elon Musk's network of Starlink satellites from SpaceX was 'quickly' capable of countering attempts by Russian attackers to disrupt networks in Ukraine.

An official from the Office of the US Secretary of Defense said the US military would take longer to counter attacks against network disruptions than SpaceX.

Starlink is a constellation of more than 2.000 satellites in low Earth orbit, transmitting internet connections to dishes around the world. They have had a massive presence in Ukraine, to keep the country online amidst the Russian invasion.

In March, Musk said they had "rejected all hacking and jamming attempts" and focused SpaceX's efforts on countermeasures, even at the expense of other projects.

Dave Tremper, of the Office of the US Secretary of Defense, at the C4ISRNET Conference, also confirmed the Russian interference attempt at Starlink.

One day after reports of Russian jamming attacks in Ukraine first surfaced, SpaceX has updated its network with new code that fixes the problem.

Tremper credits SpaceX for its agility, especially 'the way Starlink can upgrade it when threats arise'. He said the US military must also have that agility when dealing with future cyber threats.

The new code SpaceX introduced means the line of attack used to block the internet in Ukraine is no longer effective. The official also said that Starlink's attempt was a 'fantastic' countermeasure, and described the technique used as 'tickling'.

The US currently has a significant timeline for making such corrections in its own systems, saying SpaceX's approach is an interesting case study.

Damaged infrastructure and broken internet connection: that what russian army is leaving in deoccupied territories. Our smart and quick solution to restore telecom: Starlink. For example, @lifecellua uses Starlink as base station in Bucha and Irpin till optical cable is fixed. pic.twitter.com/Y02N4kUERe
— Mykhailo Fedorov (@FedorovMykhailo) April 22, 2022

"There's a really interesting case study to look at the agility that Starlink has in their ability to tackle that problem," Tremper said, as reported by Business Insider.

He is not the only prominent US official to call for a better system aimed at protecting the superpower from cyberwarfare.

Brigadier General Tad Clark, who is the US Air Force's director of electromagnetic spectrum excellence, also told the conference that the US needed to build systems for resilience and speed to respond quickly to threats.

It is estimated that there are around 5.000 Starlink terminals operating in Ukraine, and previous reports suggested that these terminals could pose a danger to users. This is because the distinctive dish, and its traceable radio signal, can be used by Russian military forces to target their location.

As well as responding to the attacks, officials said Elon Musk's Starlink satellite system gave Ukrainian forces the edge in winning the drone war as the country fought back with technology to track the Russian invasion.

According to The Telegraph, Aerorozvidka (Air Reconnaissance aircraft) were used to attack Russian drones and target Vladmir Putin's tank forces and track their position in the conflict, which has been ongoing since February 24.