Nonprofit that tracks meteors taken down by “critical blow” from a cyberattack

追踪流星的非营利组织遭受网络攻击，遭遇“致命打击”

The International Meteor Organization, the nonprofit that coordinates and publishes amateur and professional observations of meteor phenomena, said its infrastructure has suffered a “critical blow” from a cyberattack. 国际流星组织（IMO）是一个负责协调并发布业余及专业流星现象观测数据的非营利组织。该组织表示，其基础设施遭受了一次网络攻击，受到了“致命打击”。

“We recently suffered a cyberattack that dealt a critical blow to aging infrastructure, taking much of our site offline,” a static page on its website on Wednesday said. “We expect several weeks of partial downtime as we transition to new infrastructure and services.” 该组织网站周三发布的一则静态页面显示：“我们近期遭受了一次网络攻击，这对我们老旧的基础设施造成了致命打击，导致网站大部分功能下线。在迁移至新的基础设施和服务期间，预计网站将面临数周的部分停机。”

In the meantime, the IMO said it’s prioritizing the reporting of fireball observations, which can be reported here. The organization is also providing some information on its Facebook page. 与此同时，IMO 表示目前正优先处理火流星观测报告的提交工作（可在此处提交）。该组织也在其 Facebook 页面上提供部分信息。

The IMO has helped forge unified standards for reporting meteor observations. Its databases of reported meteor and fireball observations—made up of text, photos, and videos—are also considered essential by many in the field. The IMO also publishes the bimonthly WGN journal, which in English is short for Working Group News. The body was formally founded in 1988. IMO 曾协助制定了流星观测报告的统一标准。其包含文字、照片和视频的流星及火流星观测数据库，被该领域许多人士视为至关重要的资源。IMO 还出版双月刊《WGN》（Working Group News 的缩写）。该组织正式成立于 1988 年。

It’s unclear why an organization that tracks large, fiery space objects hurtling toward Earth would be the target of a damaging cyberattack. It’s equally unclear why someone would want to steal its data (assuming that was the motive), which is mostly public. 目前尚不清楚为何一个追踪冲向地球的大型炽热太空物体的组织会成为破坏性网络攻击的目标。同样不清楚的是，如果攻击者的动机是窃取数据，为何要针对这些大多已公开的数据下手。

“I am very sad to see the site down,” Sam Lawler, an associate professor of astronomy at Campion College, told Ars. “It’s really useful. I don’t have any personal connections there.” 坎皮恩学院（Campion College）天文学副教授萨姆·劳勒（Sam Lawler）告诉 Ars：“看到网站瘫痪我感到非常难过。它真的很有用。我和该组织没有任何私人联系。”

Attacks on organizations connected to space travel, observation, and research are rare, at least when compared to those targeting other industries. That said, they have occurred before. Examples are: A Romanian man accused in 2011 of damaging NASA systems; a hack on the National Science Foundation’s Noirlab facility; a cyberattack on the Atacama Large Millimeter Array observatory in Chile. 与航天、观测和研究相关的组织遭受攻击的情况相对罕见，至少与针对其他行业的攻击相比是如此。话虽如此，此类事件此前也曾发生过。例如：2011 年一名罗马尼亚男子被指控破坏 NASA 系统；美国国家科学基金会（NSF）的 Noirlab 设施遭到黑客攻击；以及智利的阿塔卡马大型毫米波/亚毫米波阵列（ALMA）天文台遭受网络攻击。

US agencies warned in 2023 that private- and public-sector space organizations may be targets of nation-state-sponsored hackers. The Russian government has also said that commercial satellites may be legitimate military targets. In 2023, Russia was reportedly tracking communications satellites used by NATO. 美国政府机构在 2023 年曾警告称，私营和公共部门的航天组织可能成为国家支持的黑客攻击目标。俄罗斯政府也曾表示，商业卫星可能是合法的军事目标。据报道，2023 年俄罗斯一直在追踪北约使用的通信卫星。

The American Meteorological Society was hit by a ransomware attack in 2023. Unlike that case, there are no known reports of groups or individuals claiming responsibility for the IMO attack or seeking a ransom. 美国气象学会曾在 2023 年遭遇勒索软件攻击。与该案例不同的是，目前尚无任何组织或个人声称对此次 IMO 攻击负责，也未见索要赎金的报告。