Operations at both the North and South Gemini telescopes have been temporarily suspended following a cybersecurity incident.
As detailed in a statement from the National Optical-Infrared Astronomy Research Laboratory (NOIRLab) on August 24, 2023, the computer hack took place on the morning of August 1, and led to the suspension of the Gemini North and South Telescope.
“Our staff are working with cybersecurity experts to get all the impacted telescopes and our website back online as soon as possible and are encouraged by the progress made thus far,” NOIRLab wrote in the statement.
The Gemini North telescope is in Hawaii and the smaller Gemini South telescope is located in Cerro Pachón, according to Live Science. Other, smaller telescopes on Cerro Tololo in Chile were also affected.
Together, the two telescopes can access nearly the entire sky. The pair of telescopes have helped astronomers view an array of celestial events, including the births of supernovae. In 2022, researchers using Gemini North made observations of the closest-known black hole to Earth.
It’s unclear exactly what the nature of the cyberattacks was or from where they originated. NOIRLab points out that because the investigation is still ongoing, the organization will be cautious about what information it shares about the intrusions. However, the shutdown has been disruptive to scientists who rely on the telescopes for research projects.
“When people are like, ‘Oh, where’s the data?’ Then I’ll have to say, ‘Well, I don’t have any data, because a hacker somewhere took down the computer,’” Luis Welbanks, an astronomy researcher at Arizona State University, tells Science. “I don’t know if any hiring committee will be sympathetic to that.”
Research institutions face unique security challenges because of their open and collaborative nature, per Science. But observatory staff have been “working around the clock to get the telescopes back into the sky,” a NOIRLab spokesperson tells the publication.
Sadly, this latest cyberattack is not the first time that astronomical observatories have been the target of hackers. In Oct. 2022, hackers disrupted operations at the Atacama Large Millimeter/Submillimeter Array (ALMA) in Chile.
NASA has been the victim of cyberattacks for years. In 2021, the agency was affected by the worldwide SolarWinds breach that NASA leadership called a “big wakeup call” for cybersecurity.
As to who is responsible for the hacks, or their motivations, that remains either unknown or undisclosed. NOIRLab has been tight-lipped about the incident, claiming that it is “limited” in what it can share about its “cybersecurity controls and investigatory findings.”
