Hackers Allegedly Steal Access Tokens, Confidential Docum...

What’s Happening

So get this: This isn’t the first cybersecurity breach to impact the space agency.

The European Space Agency (ESA) suffered a security breach of its science servers, with a hacker group claiming they have stolen 200 gigabytes worth of data that includes confidential documents and source code. Earlier this week, ESA locked in the breach following reports on socials. (it feels like chaos)

Our analysis so far indicates that only a small number of external servers may have been impacted.

The Details

These servers support unclassified collaborative engineering activities within the scientific community, the space agency wrote on X. Although ESA claims that the recent cybersecurity issue had minimal impact, an alleged hacker is offering to sell 200 gigabytes of data from the agencys servers on the BreachForums cybercrime site.

The compromised data includes source codes, access tokens, hardcoded credentials, Terraform files, and confidential documents, according to screenshots d on X expert Seb Latom. Some of the data may be related to ESAs upcoming space telescope Ariel, or Atmospheric Remote-sensing Infrared Exoplanet Large-survey, which is because of launch in 2029.

Why This Matters

The data for sale online compromises the security of space projects and risks the reuse of the code for malicious purposes, according to Latom. Wanted for cybercrime This isnt the first time ESAs servers have been compromised. In December 2024, hackers created a fake payment page on the agencys online shop to gain access to users information.

Tech companies have been making moves like this as competition heats up.

Key Takeaways

• In 2015, a hacker group breached several ESA websites to collect the information of the agencys staff and hundreds of rs.
• The cybersecurity attacks against ESA have all affected platforms hosted outside the agencys internal network.
• Still, there have been too many incidents, suggesting the agencys data security needs improvement.
• ESAs American counterpart, NASA, has also suffered its fair of security breaches over the years .

The Bottom Line

Still, there have been too many incidents, suggesting the agencys data security needs improvement. ESAs American counterpart, NASA, has also suffered its fair of security breaches over the years .

We want to hear your thoughts on this.