Re: Satellite Broadcasting?

[Jeff Pawlowski <blackeagleblackeagle@xxxxxxxxx>]

--- MSaxena358@aol.com wrote:
> Hi All,
> 
>     I need to know a little bit about how satellite
> broadcasting works for a 
> scenario I'm trying to put together, where a
> terrorist group (or maybe the 
> players - haven't decided yet) wants to broadcast
> its message nationally over 
> prime time TV.  Does anyone have an idea about what
> such a group would need 
> to do to accomplish this?  
> 
> Manu

This, I might be able to help you with.  Satellite
signals are very interesting, in that just about
anyone can send a signal up to a "bird" but getting
the satellite to "listen" to the commands is the hard
part.  That stuff is encrypted.  If you could take
down the main satellite controller's signal, know the
proper commands and the encryption to talk to the
satellite, you could "rewrite" a new encryption code
into the satellite before the controlling station or
backup came back online.

This would take a great deal of coordination and
expertise in a great number of areas.  I don't know
anyone that knows all the steps that this would take
(and I think this is part of the idea in keeping this
stuff secure).

Once you had command control, and changed the
encryption code for the satellite to receive on, you
could transmit anything to all the people "listening"
to the signals coming from that particular satellite. 
The problem is that only particular signals are
broadcast from particular satellites.  There is no
"global broadcast" system where you could snag a
satellite and broadcast it to everyone around the
world.  You would have to steal control of a
particularly large satellite network, and probably two
or three small networks to accomplish this.

There are some areas I do not know about, however.

1. Are encryption codes for satellites hardware burned
in?  What is the encryption key length?  If the code
is burned into the hardware, before it is put into
orbit, you could not change the code.  At 128-bit
encryption, it would take a GREAT deal of effort to
decrypt it, regardless of the encryption scheme being
used.  You would have to have the inside scoop, which
is VERY hard to know, since only select people would
have knowledge of what the exact key is.  I'm sure it
would be in a safe somewheres under extreme security.

2. How many controlling stations are there?  Once one
controller would go offline, there would be redundancy
and backups in other locations, that would simply need
to turn a dish up at that satellite and continue
broadcasts.

3. If you did take control over a master control
station on the ground, it would be a VERY SHORT time
before it would have its plug pulled and a redundant
station brought online.  The question is, how long?  I
know that there is a particular policy to terrorists
involved in satellite control station
"piracy/hijacking" in the US (where 90% of them are)
and they would be cut-off immediately, regardless of
the threats to the hostages they may bring.  It is not
US policy to allow terrorists such a powerful
communications method.

Hope this helps.  After some very hard thinking, and
after asking some satellite specialists that I work
with, I can get back to you with the exact steps "you
might" be able to use to hijack a satellite, but like
I said, it would not be a global broadcast by far.


=====
Jeff Pawlowski
Millennium's End: Officially Unofficial
http://www.millenniumsend.com

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