Nonprofit that Tracks Meteors Taken Down by Cyberattack
Nonprofit that Tracks Meteors Taken Down by Cyberattack
The International Meteor Organization, the nonprofit that coordinates and publishes amateur and professional observations of meteor phenomena, has reported suffering a “critical blow” from a cyberattack. A static page on its website stated, “We recently suffered a cyberattack that dealt a critical blow to aging infrastructure, taking much of our site offline. We expect several weeks of partial downtime as we transition to new infrastructure and services.”
In the meantime, the IMO is prioritizing the reporting of fireball observations and is providing updates on its Facebook page. 🚀
The IMO has established unified standards for reporting meteor observations, and its databases of reported meteor and fireball observations—comprising text, photos, and videos—are considered essential by many in the field. It remains unclear why an organization that tracks large, fiery space objects hurtling toward Earth would be targeted by such a damaging cyberattack. Furthermore, the motive behind potentially stealing its data, which is mostly public, is also uncertain. Sam Lawler, an associate professor of astronomy at Campion College, expressed his disappointment, stating, “I am very sad to see the site down. It’s really useful.”
Attacks on organizations connected to space travel, observation, and research are rare compared to those targeting other industries. However, they have occurred before, including a Romanian man accused in 2011 of damaging NASA systems and a hack on the National Science Foundation’s Noirlab facility. In 2023, US agencies warned that both private and public-sector space organizations might be targets of nation-state-sponsored hackers. The Russian government has also indicated that commercial satellites could be legitimate military targets. In 2023, Russia was reportedly tracking communications satellites used by NATO. Additionally, the American Meteorological Society was hit by a ransomware attack in 2023. Unlike that case, there are no known reports of groups or individuals claiming responsibility for the IMO attack or seeking a ransom.