Elon Musk Warns 'High' Probability of Ukraine Starlink to Be Targeted Amid Russian Invasion

Tesla and SpaceX chief executive Elon Musk warned that the Starlink satellite broadband service could be "targeted" in Ukraine, which Russia is invading.

Considered SpaceX's first consumer product, Starlink is one of the fastest and most robust satellite internet systems powered by a network of thousands of small low-orbit satellites.

Musk tweeted that Starlink is the only non-Russian communications system still operational in portions of Ukraine. Thus, he noted that the "probability of being targeted is high."

"Please use with caution," Musk added.

The "important warning" came days after an internet security researcher warned that satellite communication devices might become "beacons" that Russia could target for airstrikes, Reuters reported.

Twitter Users Asked Elon Musk Some Questions About Starlink

Elon Musk also asked users to use Starlink only when necessary and put the antenna as far away from people as possible. He also told the netizens to "place light camouflage over antenna to avoid visual detection."

As more people began to pay attention to Musk's tweets about the Starlink internet in Ukraine, many questions were raised. Musk replied to one user that spray paint also works, "provided no metal participles in paint."

Another Twitter user asked Musk if the Starlink system could really be under the threat of a Russian cyberattack. Musk said "yes," as it did already happen to almost all Viasat Ukraine user terminals, which "were rendered permanently unusable," on the first day of the Russian invasion.

When the SpaceX chief was asked if "there anything to stop it on Starlink," Musk responded with just two words: "Game on."

In a related tweet, Ukrainian Vice Prime Minister and minister of digital transformation, Mykhailo Fedorov, thanked Musk. Fedorov said Starlink keeps their cities "connected and emergency services saving lives."

Fedorov also steered the tweet in the direction of other major companies like Honda, Champion Gen, Westinghouse, and DuroMax Power, asking for their help, too.

Elon Musk also posted a tweet saying that SpaceX was also helping Ukraine with civilian internet outages. He wrote about updating software to reduce peak power consumption "so Starlink can be powered from car cigarette lighter."

"Mobile roaming enabled, so phased array antenna can maintain signal while on moving vehicle," he added.

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Elon Musk Puts Starlink Terminals to Help Ukraine Amid Russia Invasion

On Saturday, Mykhailo Fedorov asked Elon Musk for help with its internet amid its war with Russia. He asked Musk to provide Ukraine with Starlink stations from SpaceX.

The billionaire replied: "Starlink service is now active in Ukraine. More terminals en route." Ukraine said it had received the donated Starlink satellite internet terminals on Monday.

Musk reportedly sent a truckload of Starlink antennas to Ukraine that can be used to connect to Space X's satellite-based internet service. However, an internet security researcher warned that these could become Russian targets.

John Scott-Railton, a senior researcher at the University of Toronto's Citizen Lab who has spent years studying hacking and surveillance in conflict zones, tweeted that Elon Musk's assistance was "good to see" but warned users to be careful.

In a series of 15 tweets detailing the risks, he noted that "Russia has decades of experience hitting people by targeting their satellite communications."

"...if #Putin controls the air above #Ukraine, users' uplink transmissions become beacons... for airstrikes," he said.

During the second round of peace talks on Thursday, Russia and Ukraine agreed to organize humanitarian corridors to allow civilians to flee and tackled maintaining a temporary ceasefire in areas where the humanitarian corridors would be located, the first apparent sign of progress in talks between the warring sides.

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Jess Smith

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