Brazilian Pirates Hijack US Military Satellites 359
blantonl writes "Brazilians all over the country are using modified amateur radio equipment to communicate with each other using US Military communications satellites — effectively creating their own CB radio network on the backs of the US Military. Recent efforts to crack down have resulted in arrests of some of the users, however the behavior still continues today."
Back in the day.... (Score:5, Informative)
I remember when those birds used to pickup terrestrial FM stations. You could listen to the downlink 'in the clear.' This use of military satellites goes back to, at least, 1978.
It's called pirate radio (Score:5, Informative)
Bad geek! It's called Pirate radio [wikipedia.org], and it's been around longer than the Pirate bay!
Re:Pirates (Score:5, Informative)
What exactly are the "pirates" pirating? Does mere communications count as "piracy" now?
They may be extending an older term referred to as Pirate Radio [wikipedia.org] which referred to the 'piracy' of radio frequencies. But how can you steal a frequency? :)
Keep in mind this term was around long before internet piracy and I'm guessing they are extending this concept to illicit satellite usage that is very much like a broadcasting communication technology. The military might not be needing these satellites to remain silent just like the FCC doesn't absolutely need silence on all non-allocated radio bands.
Remember, almost every word has baggage before you pick it up and use it. Even worse is the fact that that baggage is very much subjective.
Re:Pirates (Score:4, Informative)
What exactly are the "pirates" pirating? Does mere communications count as "piracy" now?
Never heard the term "pirate radio" before?
I'll explain this in terms of the USA. To broadcast on many frequencies (such as those picked up by a standard AM/FM radio) with any appreciable transmission power (i.e. more than about 300 feet) you are supposed to have an FCC license for that frequency. Pirate radio is what they call it when someone makes a powerful unlicensed transmission on such a frequency. Usually this is done in order to get a message out, particularly a message that "the Establishment" (if you will) or the mainstream would find counter to its interests. Remember that arge media conglomerates such as Clearchannel tend to own most or all of the radio stations in a given area.
So, this deal with the US military satellites involves a "pirate signal" in the sense of an unauthorized transmission.
Re:Same Thing with Video Game Consoles (Score:3, Informative)
Yes, but even in the 70s they had the tech to build in at least some sort of encoding required before the channel would be opened for you even if it was just some sort of DTMF. Sure , people would still be able to hack it but they'd require extra equipment that perhaps wouldn't be available off the shelf in truck stops.
Re:Crazy (Score:4, Informative)
No, just old (Score:5, Informative)
These are old "bent pipe" FLTSATCOM birds from the 1980s. The transponder tech dates to the 1970s. It's all going to be superseded by the Mobile User Objective System very soon now, so it might even be a good idea to just sell Brazil the old system. Well, assuming the GEO slots aren't needed.
Re:Wow (Score:4, Informative)
Pirates are only in the news because they're sloppy. Ninjas would have killed whoever found out before they found out then covered up their tracks. You obviously don't know anything about ninjas, you should go do some learnin' before you anger a ninja, I suggest here [realultimatepower.net] (realultimatepower.net) to get the real deal.
Because... (Score:4, Informative)
Re:Crazy (Score:4, Informative)
Based on the description in the article, I'm guessing the sats in question use linear transponders similar to many of the AMSAT Oscar (AO) satellites.
http://www.amsat.org/amsat-new/information/faqs/langdon.php [amsat.org] has info on some of the AMSAT satellites.
It sounds like the security of the "as designed" military system was implemented at the endpoint radios with no satellite involvement. For 1970s satellites this makes sense - keep the satellite (the REALLY expensive part) simple, unfortunately it does make the system susceptible to illicit use and jamming.
Re:on the subject of tags... (Score:1, Informative)
Re:not that big a deal (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Ninja (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Not used anymore... (Score:3, Informative)
Asides from the fact that these operators were way outside their respective allowed band, they did no harm as these satellites aren't even used anymore by the US-Navy (for whom they were built).
BUZZ!!!!
Oh, I'm sorry, you're incorrect. Thank you for playing, we have a lovely parting gift of TFA for you to read on your way home.
Here's an excerpt:
Re:40 year old tech? (Score:3, Informative)
truthiness on real ninjas (Score:4, Informative)
Re:Wow (Score:4, Informative)
Excuse me? Have you not heard about the Bermuda Triangle, UFO abductions, or Income Tax? All the work of ninjas.
I was with you right up until "income tax." The income tax is proof that there is a Satan. An income tax is much more complex and labor-intensive than all other forms of taxation. It's also much more prone to cheating compared to excise or sales taxes. The only reason for having one is so that you can use carrot-and-stick methods to manipulate the population ("do something we like, get a tax credit; do something we don't like, pay more"). That's the only "benefit"; otherwise it is inferior in every way to all other forms of taxation.
If the pirates support a national sales tax to replace the income tax, then I have to say they are better than the ninjas! That's too bad, because the Bermuda Triangle and UFO abductions were pretty good. Maybe the ninjas were framed and manipulative social engineering isn't really their fault!
Re:Pirates (Score:3, Informative)
Interesting.. the Wikipedia entry had this:
In Europe, Denmark had the first known radio station in the world to broadcast commercial radio from a vessel in international waters without permission from the authorities in the country that it broadcast to (Denmark in this case). The station was named Radio Mercur and began transmission on August 2nd 1958. In the Danish newspapers it was soon called a "pirate radio".
I never new how the name "Pirate Radio" got started. That makes sense...
Re:Amazing (Score:4, Informative)
Translation:
In the '70s it was more practical to have satellites retransmit a raw signal than to have them decrypt on receive and encrypt on transmit. This system is easily exploited. Where's my mind control signal deflector beanie?
To amplify on this (Score:4, Informative)
Mod parent up. The US is, in fact, building a replacement satellite system (as discussed in TFA). Also, the US is not spending the dollars to bust these guys - the Brazilians are (at our behest, as also pointed out in TFA).
It's also important to note that the 70's technology in question was designed and launched... in the 70's. It's not like we put those birds up there yesterday. As also noted in the article.
In conclusion: read the article before posting (I know, I must be new here).
Re:Same Thing with Video Game Consoles (Score:2, Informative)
Transponders of this type don't demodulate the uplink signal. They just convert to a different frequency and amplify the downlink signal. You could do the same thing with a C-band satellite, but the hardware to operate in 4-6GHz at >100W is expensive and you need a big reflector. At UHF, you can do it at lower power with cheap parts.
That is utter BS. (Score:3, Informative)
I'm recently retired from the US Navy, and I guarantee you these satellites are still in use.
Re:Wow (Score:4, Informative)
So now, we will refer to anyone who does anything we don't like as "pirates"?
Actually, it's been in common usage for people illegally using chunks of radio spectrum for decades.
Re:Crazy (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Pirates (Score:4, Informative)
By transmitting on it.
rj
Re:Crazy (Score:4, Informative)
Re:Wow (Score:5, Informative)
Come on folks, this is a serious news article :-)
I've spent a tremendous amount of time listening to these bootleggers on the FLTSATCOM satellites. It is rather easy for them (the Brazilians and others) to modify a amateur radio or other transmitters to use these satellites.
Basically, these satellites work by listening on one frequency (an uplink), and rebroadcasting what they hear over a specified frequency bandwidth to listeners (a downlink). The uplink and downlink frequencies are well known and published across many mediums - including Mil-Std documents which specify how terminals should interact with these satellites.
I published a spectrum analysis article on this very topic here (shameless plus):
http://radioreference.blogspot.com/2008/10/vhfuhf-spectrum-analysis-using-rf-space.html [blogspot.com]
This method of communication is actually very secure for the US Military - since they rarely use clear voice on these transponders - meaning, they encrypt all transmissions to and from.
Now, an open repeater, in Geospacial orbit, provides a set of repeaters for anyone to use... either the US military (which they still actively use) - or others who have equipment that can transmit to, and reiceve from.
For those that are dismayed by this approach, understand that when this technology was developed, security by obscurity was a common approach even for military agencies. It wasn't feasible even 10 years ago to "authenticate" use access to open satellite transponders.
Re:Wow (Score:3, Informative)
Yep, but the satelite does belong to someone. Our law isn't such laise faire that says that if you have access to anything, you can use it. Also, the radio frequency can't be used by anybody that wants it, one needs proper government permission.