---
title: "Hackers Stole Data from NASA’s Robotics Lab"
description: "According to a new 82 page investigation by NASA's Office of Inspector General, hackers got away with 500 megabytes of mission critical data."
date: "2019-06-20"
modified: "2019-06-20"
authors:
  - name: "Victor Tangermann"
    job_title: "Senior Editor"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor"
url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/hackers-stole-data-nasa-jpl"
categories:
  - "NASA"
  - "Space"
tags:
  - "hacker"
  - "JPL"
  - "NASA"
  - "the digest"
---

# Hackers Stole Data from NASA’s Robotics Lab

![According to a new 82 page investigation by NASA's Office of Inspector General, hackers got away with 500 megabytes of mission critical data.](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/hackers-stole-data-nasa-jpl.jpg>)
*\<em\>Image: NASA/JPL/Victor Tangermann\</em\>*

## H4ck3d

NASA's famed Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) might have been able to land multiple remotely-controlled robots on Mars — but when it comes to its cybersecurity track record, things look a lot less rosy.

According to a [new 82 page investigation](<https://oig.nasa.gov/docs/IG-19-022.pdf>) by NASA's Office of Inspector General, the JPL team's cybersecurity systems is plagued by flaws. In fact, the report outlines an event in which 23 files of mission-critical data was stolen by hackers — the culprit: a Raspberry Pi nano-computer "that was not authorized to be attached to the JPL network." The attack went unnoticed for ten whole months.

## Network Compromized

The Raspberry Pi was not vetted by IT security staff prior to being connected. The report points out that JPL administrators failed to add any new devices, including the Raspberry Pi, into official inventory spreadsheets.

The device was later cut off from JPL's network, but not before the hackers were able to move laterally across the network, picking up valuable data.

Even worse, a separate software vulnerability, allow "cyberattackers to remotely execute malicious code, encrypt data on a targeted system, and demand payments to unlock the data" — and it was not fully addressed.

**READ MORE:** [A rogue Raspberry Pi helped hackers access NASA JPL systems](<https://www.engadget.com/2019/06/20/nasa-jpl-cybersecurity-weaknesses/>) \[*Engadget*\]

**More on cybersecurity:** *[Hackers Are Threatening Elections Around the World](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/hackers-threatening-elections-world>)*

## Author
I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida.

### Author social links  
[Bluesky](<https://bsky.app/profile/vtanger.bsky.social>)