ICARUS - Attacking Low Earth Orbit Satellite Networks

Explore a conference talk that unveils ICARUS, a novel class of denial of service attacks targeting low Earth orbit satellite networks. Delve into how adversaries can exploit the global accessibility, low-latency constraints, and predictable routing of these networks to launch devastating attacks. Examine the unique vulnerabilities of LEO satellite systems, including path structures and public knowledge of satellite-router locations. Discover how minimal attack bandwidth can disrupt communications across vast terrestrial areas. Gain insights into potential mitigation strategies and open research problems in LEO network security. Learn about the attack mechanism, load balancing effects, and probabilistic detection optimization techniques presented by researchers from ETH Zurich.

Intro
SpaceX Starlink Shell 1
The ICARUS attack
Starting point: the Coremelt DDoS attack
Space-based low-latency network - Predictability
Global access - DDoS attack stealthiness
Low-latency/higher cost - Tight operation margins
ICARUS Attack mechanism
Satellite routing in the paper...
Load balancing over satellite paths
Load balancing design space
Load balancing effect on attacks
Probabilistic ICARUS detectability optimization
Mitigations
Conclusions & Contributions