New research identifies over 237 cyber operations against space infrastructure from 2023 through 2025.
Experts warn that cyber warfare increasingly threatens satellites and communications systems.
Between January 2023 and July 2025, attackers struck the space sector repeatedly during the Gaza conflict.
The Center for Security Studies (CSS) at ETH Zürich analyzed social media posts, news reports, and cybercrime forums to document these attacks.
Attackers targeted both Israeli space agencies and international organisations.
The report highlights the highest surge occurred during Israel-Iran clashes in June 2025, recording 72 attacks in one month.
Report author Clémence Poirier notes this spike represents nearly one-third of all incidents during the study period.
The report states cyber operations against space infrastructure now appear as a recurring pattern in armed conflicts, similar to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
All identified attackers, except one, aligned with pro-Palestinian groups.
The study emphasizes that Hamas lacks satellites or space systems in Gaza, while pro-Israeli groups may have acted covertly.
Attack Strategies and Targets
Hackers launched ten attacks in October following Hamas’s armed incursion on October 7, 2023.
These operations hit the Israel Space Agency (ISA) and the defence company Rafael.
The report says global hacktivists required time to coordinate and select targets during the escalation.
Hacktivists attacked 77 different space-related organisations during the Gaza conflict.
They focused on Rafael, Elbit Systems, and the ISA but also targeted NASA and other international bodies.
Most attacks aimed at aerospace and defence companies for their military production, not their space operations.
Over 70 percent of cyber operations used denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks to overwhelm networks until systems failed.
The study explains attackers favored DDoS for speed, low skill requirements, and distraction from sophisticated operations.
Other attacks involved data breaches, intrusions, and leaks.
Some data leaks or sales coincided with major conflict events, although researchers could not always verify these connections.
The study concludes that manual open-source research likely reveals only a fraction of the actual scale of cyber activity in the space sector.
Patterns Indicate Ongoing Threats
The most significant activity surge occurred during the 12-day Israel-Iran conflict in June 2025, producing 72 cyber operations.
Pro-Palestinian and pro-Iranian actors targeted Israel simultaneously during this period.
The report highlights that the two conflicts influenced each other politically, militarily, and rhetorically, with some actors operating across both arenas.
Hacktivists replicated successful techniques from other conflicts during the Gaza fighting.
A 2023 DDoS attack by the so-called Cyber Army of Palestine on the ISA used code similar to Ukraine’s IT Army.
Most incidents caused limited operational damage, but the report warns the pattern signals the future of space-based cyber warfare.
Researchers observe that cyber operations are becoming consistent elements in modern conflicts due to hacktivist interest in the space industry.
The study recommends implementing space-focused cybersecurity strategies to protect critical infrastructure from further attacks.
