Hacktivism Goes Orbital: Investigating NB65's Breach of ROSCOSMOS

Abstract

In March of 2022, Network battalion 65 (NB65), a hacktivist affiliate of Anonymous, publicly asserted its successful breach of ROSCOSMOS's satellite imaging capabilities in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine. NB65 disseminated a series of primary sources as substantiation, proclaiming the incapacitation of ROSCOSMOS's space-based vehicle monitoring system and doxing of related proprietary documentation. Despite the profound implications of hacktivist incursions into the space sector, the event has garnered limited attention due to the obscurity of technical attack vectors and ROCOSMOS's denial of NB65's allegations. Through analysis of NB65's released primary sources of evidence, this paper uncovers the probable vulnerabilities and exploits that enabled the alleged breach into ROSCOSMOS's ground and space segment. Additionally, we highlight lessons learned and the consequences this event has for the global aerospace community.