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Earth Intelligence

13 Jan 2024 — 4 min read

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Fidelity National Financial Cyberattack
SpaceX Tests Sat to Cell Capability

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Fidelity National Financial Cyberattack:

In a recent cyberattack in November, Fidelity National Financial, a player in real estate services, suffered a data breach affecting 1.3 million customers. The company acknowledged in a regulatory filing that an unauthorized party accessed its systems, deploying non-self-propagating malware and extracting data.
In response, FNF has informed the affected customers and relevant state attorneys general and regulators. The nature of the stolen data wasn't specified in the filing, but FNF is offering credit monitoring and identity theft services to those impacted, indicating the data was likely personal and sensitive. The attack caused a significant disruption, leading to a week-long outage that halted operations for FNF and its subsidiaries.
This interruption resulted in customers being unable to process their mortgage payments. The ransomware group ALPHV, also known as BlackCat, claimed responsibility for the attack on its dark web site, which it uses for extorting victims. Following the incident, FNF's information was removed from ALPHV's site, a move often associated with the payment of a ransom by the affected party.

SpaceX Tests Sat to Cell Capability:

SpaceX has marked a milestone by facilitating the first text message exchange between T-Mobile phones using its Starlink satellites. Achieved on January 8, this test utilized one of the new Direct to Cell Starlink satellites, launched just six days earlier. These satellites, part of an initiative to deliver cellular signals to standard LTE phones, are slated to provide text messaging services to T-Mobile's U.S. customers and international carriers within the year, expanding to voice and data services by 2025.
The complexity of this achievement stems from the challenges in connecting mobile phones, which typically have low antenna gain and transmit power, with satellites moving rapidly relative to Earth. To overcome these challenges, Starlink's satellites are equipped with advanced technology like custom silicon and phased array antennas.
Elon Musk, CEO of SpaceX, noted that while this satellite-to-phone service could function almost anywhere on Earth, it's primarily designed for regions without ground-based cellular coverage. Due to its limited bandwidth, the service is not expected to significantly compete with existing terrestrial networks. T-Mobile plans to begin field testing with the Starlink network soon, although the service start date is yet to be announced.
SpaceX's satellite network has grown to over 5,289 small satellites in low Earth orbit, focused on delivering broadband internet globally, particularly in areas with limited connectivity. With this expansive network, SpaceX has become the operator of the world's largest commercial satellite constellation, surpassing the total number of satellites deployed by any government or company.

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