It seems that every week or month there is a new hack that is revealed from the world of cybersecurity, showing that nothing connected to the internet is truly secure. With that in mind, let’s take a look at how this would apply cybersecurity risks to amateur telescopes. To do this, we consulted a cybersecurity expert who is also an amateur astronomer and has a telescope. There are several interesting factors at play here, such as what risks exists, vectors or avenues of attack, and motives. Not every item discussed, nor avenue will apply to every telescope or situation, and as is extremely detailed and nuanced, but we will help you get an idea on the subject. We have NOT tested any platforms, nor is this a suggestion of any item.

Please note: we do NOT recommend hacking other peoples telescopes, nor trying any of these items yourself. This is just to help put your mind at ease. Nor are we saying that it’s a likely occurrence, rather it’s just an interesting thought experiment.

The 3 most important questions to ask are whether the telescope has internet access, whether the telescope is left unattended for long periods of time, and how long the telescope is on for. Companies are starting to release GoToMounts that do have wireless (Wi-Fi) connection ability, which means that in theory, if one were close enough to connect to the telescope, then one could connect and hack your telescope. This isn’t an issue with older GoTos; however, what is an issue for those with electronic mounts is that if left unattended, someone could theoretically plug a malicious controller into the device. This isn’t to say that this has or will happen, but this is a route that an attacker may take. However, to do this, one would have to have acquired a specific controller that would be able to plug into your telescope, reprogram it, and then plug it in while you’re not watching. Moreover, the length of time that the device is on is also a reason why an attacker might or might not go after a telescope as a telescope that is online for 4 hours per month is not going to provide much value to an attacker.

An important caveat is if someone has the ability to hack your telescope mount, there might be other issues to be concerned about. Like for example, if you leave your telescope out to image while you sleep at a state park, someone who’s interested in your telescope would probably just take it, not hack it. Moreover, unless you keep your telescope connected to the Internet on a regular bases or for long periods of time, there wont be much of a motive for an attacker. What this means is that even if your telescope GoToMount did get hacked, unless an attacker can connect the device to the internet, there isnt much the attacker would be able to do, nor a reason to attack your system. A hacker would likely go after your telescope because they could use the hardware for something like bitcoin mining, Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks, or something else that requires internet access. But it’s more likely that they would just steal the device outright, rather than try to simply hack it.

Therefore, having someone an issue of a hacker go after your telescope is extremely unlikely, as it would require continued physical access to the system and have the system be available for lengthy periods of time. Plus, with the limited computing power, the use of said device wouldn’t provide much value for an attacker. This is not to say that these telescopes are unhackable, but rather the threats that could arise from a cybersecurity perspective is extremely. There are bigger targets for hackers and going after amateur telescopes wont be worth their time, nor risk of actually performing the attacks.

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