Study shows unencrypted satellite traffic captured with cheap gear

Researchers at the University of California, San Diego and the University of Maryland announced on Monday that they were able to intercept large volumes of unencrypted communications transmitted through geostationary satellites using inexpensive, off-the-shelf equipment from a rooftop in La Jolla, California, over a three-year period. The team said their scans of 39 satellites and 411 transponders revealed unprotected traffic that included mobile phone calls and texts, airline inflight Wi Fi, utility and industrial links, and military and law enforcement communications from the United States and Mexico.

The researchers built a ground station from common consumer parts, including a standard satellite dish, a motorized mount and a tuner card, at a total cost of roughly $600 to $800. By pointing the dish at different satellites and repeatedly recording short daily captures over months, they decoded a range of traffic they expected to be encrypted but found was broadcast in the clear. The data set included phone numbers, call audio, text content, browsing histories, corporate and banking traffic, and operational messages that identified the locations of personnel and equipment, the...