Intercepting Satellite Spy Pictures

I didn't think that this would actually be possible for the average person. It seems that anyone with the interest in satellite communications could intercept transmissions. This particular article shows how one person could intercept spy pictures from spy planes.

If this type of techonology is available for the average person, this will also be available for guerilla groups and terrorists.

Article

[Edited on 6-2-2004 by IMMORTAL]

[Edited on 6-2-2004 by IMMORTAL]

encryption is a marvilous thing.

Originally posted by ScienceGuyQ
encryption is a marvilous thing.

Yes, it is marvelous technology, but of course, it is possible to decrypt these encrypted satellite signals.

Some links on cases of decrypted satellite signals:

link

link

I would Think this lapse of security has been attended to in the course of time (article dtd June 2002)

the dbl edged sword is at work here...
making this SNAFU public, only allows the 'nwo-masters' to tighten their grip of control!!!

so, is this guy a Goat or Hero??(the one monitoring spy-plane signals)

MHO=more people should employ the SGT SHULTZ strategy (..I see nothing....i hear nothing!..)
~~~~++++~~~~

more tax dollars will now be spent to insulate the populace from having knowledge or oversight or access to govt activities....any access to info/data will require financial resources available to only major corporations or similar entities (no more garage scientists & spies)

>>>govt can control corporations by various means, which leaves only antagonist nations, adventuresome terrorist orgs. to protect against...

never mind, just spinning wheelss

~#~...7734

deleted

[Edited on 6-2-2004 by mrsteve]

Originally posted by IMMORTAL
I didn't think that this would actually be possible for the average person. It seems that anyone with the interest in satellite communications could intercept transmissions. This particular article shows how one person could intercept spy pictures from spy planes.

There are of course a limited number of encrypted satellite transponders available even for the deep pockets of the US DoD/NRO.
What this means is that data such as aerial surveillance from UCAV's, Orion's, etc, (IF the data low priority) could very well get booted to a lower security sat if a higher classified surveillance is ongoing.
The sats that low priority surveillance feed through are obscure and chances are you'd have to hunt for them, but they are certainly accessible for the hobbyist with a dish and a lot of time.

That said, let's drill down on this so you don't get the wrong ideas...
There is certainly a hierarchy with classified surveillance data. For example if you find one of these sats, you might see some passing shots of railroads in Bosnia or that sort of thing on an unencrypted sat link, BUT you will definitely NOT see live video images of North Korean Leader Kim Jong Il reading his morning newspaper as he sips on his green tea.

The encryption used on DoD/NRO spy satellites and surveillance relay stations is the best in the world, it is nothing like cracking into a scrambled HBO satellite signal.
This DoD encryption goes well beyond 1,028 bit and has taken the NSA over 9 months to crack using an array of supercomputers.

Considering that similar encryption algorithms like that are probably cycled through on a constant minute by minute basis, provided one has access to supercomputers they may be able many months from now to decrypt as much as 60 seconds of data before they have to wait another number of months to decrypt the next 60 seconds of data....
AND that's if they can find the encrypted sat signal coming from the spy platform...
Which most likely does not broadcast on standard downlink frequencies nullifying the ability to access the signal on standard hobbyist equipment.

In recent years there has been an incident where "hackers" actually took control of a British military telecom satellite. (link)
They held control of the sat's navigation (blackmail) but were not able to gather transmission data.

It all comes down to this; if the DoD does not want you or potential adversaries to see what they are looking at, you will not see it.

intelgurl

Here is an interesting article about the s-band.article!

Originally posted by intelgurl
It all comes down to this; if the DoD does not want you or potential adversaries to see what they are looking at, you will not see it.

intelgurl

Wow, very interesting!I guess the average hobbyist does not even have a chance of seeing these encrypted messages, much less large military groups.

Thanks for the information.

Originally posted by Martinez
Here is an interesting article about the s-band.article!

Thanks for your article, I found it interesting.

I've never hear of the S-band before. The only interception devices I have ever been interested in was the regualar radio scanner.

I guess it would be of no help for the people in the article to question the images of the S-band frequencies, they would probably get into trouble for doing so.