Researchers intercept unencrypted satellite traffic from space blabbermouths www.theregister.com/2025/10/1…

Geostationary satellites are broadcasting large volumes of unencrypted data to Earth, including private voice calls and text messages as well as consumer internet traffic, researchers have discovered. Scientists at the University of California, San Diego, and the University of Maryland, College Park, say they were able to pick up large amounts of sensitive traffic largely by just pointing a commercial off-the-shelf satellite dish at the sky from the roof of a university building in San Diego.

This included unencrypted cellular backhaul data sent from the core networks of several US operators, destined for cell towers in remote areas. Also found was unprotected internet traffic heading for in-flight Wi-Fi users aboard airliners, and unencrypted call audio from multiple VoIP providers.

More seriously, the team was able to observe unencrypted traffic for military systems including detailed tracking data for coastal vessel surveillance and operational data of a police force.