Since early August 2023, several observatories operated by the US National Science Foundation have been hacked in Chile and Hawaii. In this respect informs Science edition.
Science calls the event a “mysterious cyber incident” because so little is known about it. It is known that the attacks started this month. Details about the incident were not even disclosed to the staff of the US National Science Foundation. The organization’s press service told Science that they were working day and night just to get the telescopes back up into the sky as soon as possible.
Due to the incident, the work of 10 observatories had to be completely stopped for more than two weeks. A few more objects had limited operation – only personal observations could be made on them, without remote connection to the equipment.
The event affected several major telescopes, including Gemini North, Victor Blanco, SOAR and more. These objects are excluded to avoid major consequences from a hacker attack. Science writes that the telescopes could be physically damaged by the attack.
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