Federal Government Warns Of Possible Satellite Communication Network Threats

by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
March 21, 2022

The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) recently released a joint cybersecurity advisory that warns organizations of possible threats to U.S. and international satellite communication (SATCOM) networks.

“Successful intrusions into SATCOM networks could create risk in SATCOM network providers’ customer environments,” CISA and the FBI said in the alert.

“Given the current geopolitical situation, CISA’s Shields Up initiative requests that all organizations significantly lower their threshold for reporting and sharing indications of malicious cyber activity,” the alert said.

To that end, CISA and FBI will update the advisory as new information becomes available so that SATCOM providers and their customers can take additional mitigation steps pertinent to their environments.

CISA and FBI strongly encouraged critical infrastructure organizations and other organizations that are either SATCOM network providers or customers to review and implement the mitigations outlined in the advisory to strengthen SATCOM network cybersecurity.

The complete list of mitigation measures recommended by CISA and the FBI is available in the advisory. Click here for the advisory.