NASA remotely reprogramming Voyager 1 also means that aliens can reprogram all of our satellites.

CRUMBGRABBER@lemm.ee to Showerthoughts@lemmy.world – 186 points –

NASA remotely reprogramming Voyager 1 also means that aliens can reprogram all of our satellites.

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I would doubt they would have encrypted anything on the probe back in 1977 when it launched.

The ultimate security by obscurity. Do you have a 30m antenna? Can you point it exactly at the space ship with almost no error? Do you know what it's code and protocols are? OK, please reprogram Voyager

OP says reprogram all of the satellites. So I would assume that would include the modern ones with encryption as well.

I cannot confirm or deny any such arrangement exists with an existing alien species.

I would hope there is at least authentication of some kind...

I would guess not. Any authentication scheme would just be another risk point to not be able to talk to the thing from earth.

But I'm just guessing.

I wouldn’t be so sure. They were probably scared the Russians might sabotage it.

That's actually a good point. However, the technology and conceptual understanding of encryption was not really a thing in 1970

Sure encryption was around but it was mostly people with code books

when these were launched in the 70's authentication wasn't a concern, getting it up, and reporting back was