A $25 hacking tool can be used to access Elon Musk’s Starlink internet terminals, claims a security expert

A $25 hacking tool can be used to access Elon Musk’s Starlink internet terminals, claims a security expert. Lennert Wouters from the Belgian university KU Leuven described how the satellite dishes could be abused at the Black Hat Security Conference. He revealed that because of hardware faults, someone might get into the dishes and access Starlink’s internet. Additionally, he continued, if the company left it unlocked, hackers would have unrestricted access to Starlink’s system and could easily execute their own proprietary code on the network’s gadgets.

To look for software flaws, Lennert linked his hacking tool to the satellite dish. His tool just cost $25, which covers all necessary parts. The system could become shorted by the printed circuit board (PCB), which was built from the ground up. Wouters managed to circumvent Starlink’s security measures in this way. He received payment from Starlink last year for disclosing the security holes.

Elon Musk launched Starlink in order to provide everyone on the planet access to the internet. The company has served more than 5,000 clients and successfully launched 3,000 satellites into orbit. The terminals are still open even after the vulnerabilities have been addressed. According to Lenner Wouters, the widespread availability of Starlink User Terminals (UT) makes them vulnerable to hardware hackers and enables an attacker to freely browse the network.