Viasat Inc., an American communications provider, claims its satellite internet services in Ukraine and Europe are being disrupted by a "cyber incident."
Based in Carlsbad, California, Viasat offers high-speed satellite broadband access and secure networking systems to military and commercial customers throughout the United States and around the world. The problem stems from Viasat's purchase of the Ka-SAT satellite from the satellite's launcher and former owner, Eutelsat, in April 2021.
"While we attempt to restore service to affected consumers, we're also looking into and evaluating our European network and systems to figure out what's causing the problem. We're also putting further network safeguards in place to avoid any further consequences." authorities stated.
According to the firm, the interruption began on February 24, the day Russia invaded Ukraine, and it contacted "law enforcement and government partners," adding it had "no indication of consumer data is implicated." In a statement to PaxEx.Aero, another ISP, Germany-based EUSANET, the company said it was suffering problems as well.
An insider told British news channel Sky News that the interruptions were triggered by a distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack.
The number of Viasat users in Ukraine is unknown, and the firm has declined to specify how many are affected. Subsequently, Viasat's stock was up 3.5 percent in lunchtime trade Monday, trading at around $45.
To optimize service area, Viasat operates huge satellites in geosynchronous orbit, which means people are stationary at a location roughly 35,000 kilometers from Earth.
This is the conventional method of providing broadband access from space, but a number of businesses, including SpaceX's Starlink, are investing in constructing networks in low-Earth orbit which use hundreds or thousands of satellites.
