this post was submitted on 14 Oct 2025
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https://archive.md/QMvAI

With just $800 in basic equipment, researchers found a stunning variety of data—including thousands of T-Mobile users’ calls and texts and even US military communications—sent by satellites unencrypted.

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[–] stoy@lemmy.zip 77 points 3 weeks ago (12 children)

I remember reading that drug cartells in South America are using disused military communications satellites.

These satellites simply takes a signal recieved on one band and rebroadcast it on another band over a wide area, so as long as the satellite can pick up your signal you can basically talk to an entire continent at once, all while remaining anonymous.

[–] vacuumflower@lemmy.sdf.org 32 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) (10 children)

There must be some additional steps. Otherwise those satellites would be overloaded by hooligans.

[–] FE80@lemmy.world 17 points 3 weeks ago (3 children)

Someone tell me how to join team "satellite hooligan".

[–] knightly@pawb.social 10 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

You can get a cheap SDR for a few bucks and an antenna for about the same. The rest is software and ingenuity.

[–] BD89@lemmy.sdf.org 2 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

Is it illegal to do this? I mean they aren't being used anymore so no harm no foul right?

[–] knightly@pawb.social 2 points 3 weeks ago

The legality is questionable, but just listening is harmless.

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