Light

Episode #932 Quiz

Satellite Insecurity, Part 2
Date: 2023-07-25 | Length: 1.75 hrs | Episode page at twit.tv

About this episode

Researchers showed low Earth orbit satellite firmware often lacks encryption, authentication, ASLR, and stack protections, enabling remote code execution through unauthenticated TeleCommands, buffer overreads, and vulnerable file systems. Cheap ground stations and ground-station-as-a-service now make attacks practical, undermining security-by-obscurity and risking persistent takeover, denial of service, or orbital collision.

Your name and email are stored only in your browser local storage for convenience. They are not retained server-side.

NameEmail

Question 1: According to the episode, what specific action did Apple say it would take if the UK enacted the proposed Investigatory Powers Act changes rather than weaken security?

Question 1

According to the episode, what specific action did Apple say it would take if the UK enacted the proposed Investigatory Powers Act changes rather than weaken security?

Move its UK compliance review into the Home Office Disable end-to-end encryption only for UK accounts Remove services such as FaceTime and iMessage from the UK Comply after a court appeal but before public notice

Question 2: What capability was the Web Environment Integrity proposal said to give websites in relation to ad blockers?

Question 2

What capability was the Web Environment Integrity proposal said to give websites in relation to ad blockers?

A means to refuse content to browsers running ad blockers A way to encrypt ads so blockers cannot detect them A protocol for proving ad clicks came from humans A mechanism to force browsers to install ad blockers

Question 3: What joint warning did the FTC and HHS send to 130 hospital systems and telehealth providers?

Question 3

What joint warning did the FTC and HHS send to 130 hospital systems and telehealth providers?

Analytics tools are banned unless patients opt in twice Only encrypted pixels may be used on patient portals Hospitals must remove all mobile apps by the end of the year Tracking technologies may impermissibly disclose sensitive health information

Question 4: What did the satellite researchers say about the practical accessibility of ground stations, which changed the threat model for LEO satellites?

Question 4

What did the satellite researchers say about the practical accessibility of ground stations, which changed the threat model for LEO satellites?

Ground stations are still too expensive for any meaningful attacker Ground stations require custom military hardware to transmit commands A fully functional ground station can be built for under $10,000 Only governments can now operate ground stations legally

Question 5: In the satellite firmware paper, what did the researchers report about one vulnerable TeleCommand on an ARM Cortex-M3 satellite?

Question 5

In the satellite firmware paper, what did the researchers report about one vulnerable TeleCommand on an ARM Cortex-M3 satellite?

It required authenticated firmware signing before any memory access It allowed arbitrary memory reading and writing via memcpy parameters It only exposed a harmless status register over the COM interface It was limited to changing LED indicators on the satellite

Cancel

My Data//Security & Privacy//Clear Local Data

© 2026 Ken ArmstrongSecurity Now™ is a trademark of TWiT LLC. All trademarks and copyrights of the Security Now podcast are respected and reserved to their respective holders.
This is a hobby project made with love and admiration for what Steve Gibson and Leo Laporte have built over 20 years.