The Gemini North Observatory, which is part of the National Scientific Laboratory of Optical and Infrared Astronomy of the United States (Noirlab), was subjected to a cyber attack this week. This incident forced scientists to temporarily suspend all astronomical observations, as reported on the official website of Noirlab on August 1st [1].
The Gemini North Observatory is located on Mauna Kaa Mountain in Hawaii and is one of the two telescopes of the Gemini Observatory. The second telescope, called Gemini South, is located in Chile.
Thanks to the quick actions of the group of observers and the NoirLab cybersecurity team, damage to the observatory was prevented. However, as a precautionary measure, it was decided to isolate the computer systems of both telescopes by completely shutting them down. This means that both telescopes have temporarily ceased functioning while the IT team conducts an investigation into the incident and develops a recovery plan.
Noirlab did not specify whether this attack involved extortion. However, they stated that the incident did not affect the infrastructure of other centers and observatories except for Gemini North and Gemini South.
The laboratory also mentioned that the website and tools for submitting applications to the Gemini Observatory are currently unavailable. However, the Noirlab website itself remains accessible.
Laboratory specialists are continuing to assess the scale of the incident and are developing a plan to restore the systems in close cooperation with experts from the US National Scientific Fund.
In the past year, hackers have targeted various scientific centers and laboratories multiple times. For instance, at the end of 2022, the Alma Observatory in Chile was attacked, resulting in the suspension of its work for an entire month. Furthermore, in April of this year, the American meteorological society fell victim to an extortion virus, where attackers successfully stole personal data of employees including names, addresses, and dates of birth.
These incidents further highlight the critical importance of cybersecurity for scientific organizations that store valuable data and heavily rely on the operation of expensive equipment.
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