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Iran is likely jamming Starlink

timesofisrael.com

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Re: Iran is likely jamming Starlink

#221

Post by westurner »

petcat wrote: post #120
westurner wrote: post #93

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

what does this have to do with smuggling tcp connections over email

At that time they created a bunch of spammy noise which caused the social media businesses significant expense.

They did that in order to run their foreign interference in US elections agenda, and their foreign agenda of late; and we don't like foreign interference in our elections either.

Note the fathers of the sarcastic TV show South Park, all bouncing around on their satellite internet access.

Re: Iran is likely jamming Starlink

#222

Post by thegrim000 »

lovich wrote: post #220
ACCount37 wrote: post #36

Not too surprising, given that Starlink operates in Iran without a permit, "space pirate radio" style, and has something of a habit of making the access free when major protests happen and the government imposes a network blackout. Iranian government and Starlink have no love for each other, clearly. It's a pattern by now: whenever a government wants to do something awful, it shuts down internet access - so that no o…

[flagged]

The claim you're making has been thoroughly debunked countless times. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starlink_in_the_Russian-Ukrain...

Re: Iran is likely jamming Starlink

#223

Post by westurner »

DetectDefect wrote: post #129
westurner wrote: post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

https://github.com/x011/smtp-tunnel-proxy : > A high-speed covert tunnel that disguises TCP traffic as SMTP email communication to bypass Deep Packet Inspection (DPI) firewalls

No mention of any security review, or even testing. Reason enough to stay away from such tools.

Good point.

Re: Iran is likely jamming Starlink

#224

Post by dzhiurgis »

ece wrote: post #37
ACCount37 wrote: post #36

Not too surprising, given that Starlink operates in Iran without a permit, "space pirate radio" style, and has something of a habit of making the access free when major protests happen and the government imposes a network blackout. Iranian government and Starlink have no love for each other, clearly. It's a pattern by now: whenever a government wants to do something awful, it shuts down internet access - so that no o…

It's weird how Apple and Google don't get it, while SpaceX does.

Imagine if Starlink came with special channel to X.com. UK would loose their minds.

Re: Iran is likely jamming Starlink

#225

Post by lovich »

thegrim000 wrote: post #222
lovich wrote: post #220

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

The claim you're making has been thoroughly debunked countless times. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starlink_in_the_Russian-Ukrain...

Assuming this section is accurate

> In 2022, Elon Musk denied a Ukrainian request to extend Starlink's coverage up to Russian-occupied Crimea during a counterattack on a Crimean port, from which Russia had been launching attacks against Ukrainian civilians; doing so would have violated US sanctions on Russia.[18] This event was widely reported in 2023, erroneously characterizing it as Musk "turning off" Starlink coverage in Crimea.[19][20] SpaceX executives repeatedly stated that Starlink needed to remain a civilian network;[21][22][12] in late 2022, as Starlink was being used as a tool in combat in Ukraine, SpaceX announced Starshield, a Starlink-like program designed for government customers.[23][21] Musk is reported to have said that Ukraine was "going too far" in threatening to inflict a “strategic defeat” on the Kremlin.[24]

I will walk back the last half after the word “or” in my claim here

> Musk manipulates those connections for whatever he perceives as his own benefit or he wouldn’t be turning off the connections in Ukraine[1]

The first half is still him manipulating those connections for whatever he perceives as his own benefit

Re: Iran is likely jamming Starlink

#226

Post by ece »

overfeed wrote: post #216
ece wrote: post #211

Earlier quoted context omitted.

TV emissions don't use beam forming. This is all a cat and mouse game, but Starlink being a distributed system should mean it is harder to completely block use of.

See my other comment upthread on how beamforming doesn't make terminals/emissions invisible, just harder to acquire, but well within reach of a determined adversary. Newer Starlink terminals have a 1.5° beam, and older ones are 3.4° wide . At 10,000 feet altitude, the tighter beam is 245 feet across. Starlink satellite orbits are public and predictable, and Iran has drones to spare. This is just 1 passive RF-based ap…

Like I said, this is a cat and mouse game, if you had terminals to spare or even just fake battery operated transmitting antennas, you could waste a lot of drone time. There are also masking techniques and it's not like the drones can't be tracked or misguided. It would take orders of magnitude more effort to stop Starlink than to keep using it minimally. Iran is a big country, it just depends on how determined and prepared the protestors are to evade censorship. Which by itself is hopefully just a start to other actions.

Re: Iran is likely jamming Starlink

#228

Post by bigbadfeline »

tim333 wrote: post #152
malchow wrote: post #73

Satellite signals are just weak RF signals and can be disrupted easily. There is nothing 'hardened' about them. It's funny that people think Starlink or any of its many incipient competitors are any different.

Russia seems to have been ineffective at stopping the Ukranians using it.

> Russia seems to have been ineffective at stopping the Ukranians using it.

Russia isn't in control of Ukrainian territory, where the starlink terminals are, which would be the prime targets of any disruption operation. The situations in Iran and Ukraine are materially different.

Re: Iran is likely jamming Starlink

#230

Post by immibis »

ACCount37 wrote: post #36

Not too surprising, given that Starlink operates in Iran without a permit, "space pirate radio" style, and has something of a habit of making the access free when major protests happen and the government imposes a network blackout. Iranian government and Starlink have no love for each other, clearly. It's a pattern by now: whenever a government wants to do something awful, it shuts down internet access - so that no o…

The reason national great firewalls shouldn't exist, is that national great firewalls are bad. We don't have to blame potential future badness when we can blame definite present badness.
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