Viasat Group S.p.A.

The group was founded as an operator specializing in the production of high-tech electronic systems used in the automotive industry.

History

2022: Satellite network hacking

By the end of March 2022, many of the satellites of one of the world's largest commercial satellite operators Viasat have so far been disabled, which greatly interferes with the operation of the network. The company suggests that it was subjected to a targeted cyber attack. The operator has been facing significant disruption since February 24, 2022.

Viasat said Europe commercial customer terminals were sabotaged in the Central and Eastern region. The company suggests that a cyber attack is supposedly behind the satellite outages. As a result of the attack, many customers of Viasat-run KA-SAT lost access to. According Internet to the hackers company, they launched the attack at 5 a.m. on February 24, 2022, activating the virus update, causing KA-SAT customers to lose access to the network.

Viasat's satellite network was hacked. Services not available

Experts note that potential involvement Russia in the incident is not excluded, but no concrete evidence of this has yet been identified. The consequences cyber attacks were felt, not only at, To Ukraine but also at. At Germany least 3,000 Enercon wind generators in Germany, which were connected to the network via satellite provider and can usually be serviced remotely, suddenly turned out to be inaccessible, while the networks continued to work and generate electricity.

On March 15, Enercon reported that 85% of the firm's modems are still not connected to the network in any way, and that a full resumption of operation may require "several more weeks." The approach to distribute malware through software updates points to professional attackers. This is not the first time satellite ISPs have fallen victim to complex cyber operations, like Viasat.^[1]

2021: Purchase of satellite carrier Inmarsat

On November 8, 2021, Viasat announced the purchase of Inmarsat for $7.3 billion. The deal would combine two major satellite operators with broadband, mobility and defense businesses. The deal is subject to regulatory approval and is expected to close in the second half of 2022. Read more here.