August 15, 2012 at 23:27Can you hack the Curiosity rover?
The Curiosity rover has been on the surface of Mars for only a week, but during this time it has not moved a centimeter. So far, scientists are taking pictures and analyzing the surroundings. The first color photo (Gale Crater) has already leaked to the network and scientists have already chosen new rocky formations for the next study. Today, “Curious” performs a very risky task: it updates the firmware.
As mentioned earlier, the heart of Curiosity is a computer running on VxWorks - a popular operating system installed on millions of devices around the world, including ships, planes. VxWorks firmware can be updated at any time.
The firmware was actually transferred to the rover during its 8-month flight. On Saturday, the update process began. According to Steve Skendor, a senior software engineer, they first activate the update process, after which the connection ends for 8 hours. The
update is considered risky because the device is located 250 million miles from Earth. However, after that a number of characteristics will improve, including computer autonomy, surface analysis tools, and spatial orientation.
Hacking Curiosity
If scientists can update Curiosity, so what's stopping other people from updating its software? There are many examples where amateurs abused the “availability” of satellites. However, the situation with Curiosity is different.
Theoretically, of course, it is possible to crack it, moreover, it is not so difficult.
To perform the outgoing signal (on the rover), the largest antennas of 230 feet (70 meters) are equipped with transmitters that provide up to 400 kilowatts of output power. The hacker will also have to repeat the same coding scheme (QPSK) and use the same frequencies (ranges: X, about 8 GHz).
Such barriers can only be overcome by well-funded terrorist groups that can allow the purchase of expensive equipment to communicate with Mars.
It will be much easier to hack NASA and use its infrastructure to take control of the rover. In principle, you can enter the flight control center at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory and send your own commands using the DSN antenna. In addition, you can physically penetrate the flight control center and download new firmware (for example, via USB).
Back in March, NASA said it had been attacked by hacker attacks. At that time, 150 NASA employee accounts were stolen, which can be used to access protected files.
In general, it is quite possible to gain access to Curiosity management, but it will take a lot more effort and money than it costs.
As mentioned earlier, the heart of Curiosity is a computer running on VxWorks - a popular operating system installed on millions of devices around the world, including ships, planes. VxWorks firmware can be updated at any time.
The firmware was actually transferred to the rover during its 8-month flight. On Saturday, the update process began. According to Steve Skendor, a senior software engineer, they first activate the update process, after which the connection ends for 8 hours. The
update is considered risky because the device is located 250 million miles from Earth. However, after that a number of characteristics will improve, including computer autonomy, surface analysis tools, and spatial orientation.
Hacking Curiosity
If scientists can update Curiosity, so what's stopping other people from updating its software? There are many examples where amateurs abused the “availability” of satellites. However, the situation with Curiosity is different.
Theoretically, of course, it is possible to crack it, moreover, it is not so difficult.
To perform the outgoing signal (on the rover), the largest antennas of 230 feet (70 meters) are equipped with transmitters that provide up to 400 kilowatts of output power. The hacker will also have to repeat the same coding scheme (QPSK) and use the same frequencies (ranges: X, about 8 GHz).
Such barriers can only be overcome by well-funded terrorist groups that can allow the purchase of expensive equipment to communicate with Mars.
It will be much easier to hack NASA and use its infrastructure to take control of the rover. In principle, you can enter the flight control center at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory and send your own commands using the DSN antenna. In addition, you can physically penetrate the flight control center and download new firmware (for example, via USB).
Back in March, NASA said it had been attacked by hacker attacks. At that time, 150 NASA employee accounts were stolen, which can be used to access protected files.
In general, it is quite possible to gain access to Curiosity management, but it will take a lot more effort and money than it costs.