ISRO Reports Over 100 Cyber Attacks Per Day, Details Response Plan

The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), the national space agency, is said to be making more than 100 hacking attempts every day. This was revealed by ISRO Chairman S. Somanath at a cyber security event in Kochi recently.

According to a TOI report, Somanath also revealed that the Indian space agency has strong safeguards, including both hardware and software, to prevent these attempts from succeeding.

According to the ISRO chief, although there are many hacking companies, they have not been able to crack ISRO’s security systems.

The Indian space agency uses a number of firewalls and security measures to prevent these attempts from crossing the non-security layer. They ensure that these hacking attempts do not affect the integrity of their satellite and rocket software, which is critical for missions like the moon landings, the report said.

According to TOI, he also said that India needs a very strong cyber security understanding and knowledge base to ensure security. Somanath also explained how complex it was to carry out even a small lunar landing program and how much risk is involved in such space activities.

Meanwhile, ISRO recently shared the first images of the Gaganyaan spacecraft, which will take humans into space in December 2024. The space agency also announced that it will begin unmanned flight tests for the Gaganyaan mission.

“ISRO begins unmanned flight tests for Gaganyaan mission. Preparations for Flight Test Vehicle Abort Mission-1 (TV-D1) to demonstrate Crew Escape System performance are underway,” the space agency said in an X message (formerly Twitter).

The Gaganyaan mission involves taking a crew of two to three members into a circular orbit of about 400 km around the globe for a 1-3 day mission and bringing them back by landing at a designated location in Indian waters.