By extension that means we can also reprogram alien satellites and probes. So why aren't we??
this post was submitted on 06 May 2024
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Jeff Goldblum can upload a virus to take out an entire alien spacecraft. Probes are a piece of cake.
Jeff Goldblum is the alien.
Oh snap!
At least in the space odyssey series they had a weird kind of explanation for that approach. Unlike in Independence Day
Actually in ID4 there was an explanation. Basically all of humanity's computer tech came from reverse engineering alien tech. So our computers worked with theirs because they were based on theirs. Maybe this isn't this best logic, but they did at least have an in universe explanation.
Oh yeah. That makes sense
We haven't mastered SSH authentication via psionic tendrils
Look at this human still using SSH. I bet they still process on old PCs instead of PC2’s
I SSH authenticate stuff via my psionic tendril all the time ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
They should make a Star Trek movie about this!
Oh, wait....
This is assuming that they would know and understand the code. Also, that nothing is encrypted but I guess encryption can be broken.
I would doubt they would have encrypted anything on the probe back in 1977 when it launched.
The ultimate security by obscurity. Do you have a 30m antenna? Can you point it exactly at the space ship with almost no error? Do you know what it's code and protocols are? OK, please reprogram Voyager
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OP says reprogram all of the satellites. So I would assume that would include the modern ones with encryption as well.
I cannot confirm or deny any such arrangement exists with an existing alien species.
Call the FBI! We found the alien!
I would hope there is at least authentication of some kind...
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I would guess not. Any authentication scheme would just be another risk point to not be able to talk to the thing from earth.
But I'm just guessing.
I wouldn’t be so sure. They were probably scared the Russians might sabotage it.
That's actually a good point. However, the technology and conceptual understanding of encryption was not really a thing in 1970
Sure encryption was around but it was mostly people with code books
when these were launched in the 70's authentication wasn't a concern, getting it up, and reporting back was
It is from the 1970's
I mean, sure, technically. They'd have to know English, know the programming language that was used for the probe, know the transmission frequency that the probe accepts, know the boundaries and limitations of the probe so that they don't actually force any errors, and presumably would need to crack the encryption preventing anyone else from reprogramming Voyager 1. They'd also either need to be able to generate incredibly strong radio waves through space in order to transmit their code, or they'd need to be close enough to us that we'd be able to detect their presence.
While that's all technically possible, the odds of it happening are pretty low.
Crack encryption from the mid 70's? If there even is any on the Voyager command signal, I couldn't find a reference to any. But if there is, I'd think modern computers are up to the task.
They’d also either need to be able to generate incredibly strong radio waves through space
My guess is that THIS is the actual security feature.
Not to mention... who would even want to? There's nothing to gain except slight infamy, if you could even prove you were behind it.
Yes, one entity being able to reprogram one piece of tech definitely means another entity is able to reprogram every other piece of tech that is slightly related.
the existence of viruses and zero day exploits probably also means aliens can reprogram your mom’s laptop but why would they want to?
Aliens would need to understand the systems.
I mean... Can you reprogram Voyager 1? We have a bunch of random polyhedrons from the ancient world and we don't even know what the hell they are. Our stuff could be so ancient compared to an alien that they are just as baffled by it as we are of those polyhedrons.
They might not even be able to understand the simple pictorial instructions for playing the audio on the golden record Voyager carries.
There's a novel titled Glasshouse, by Charles Stross, where members of a far future civilization sign up to live in a simulated mid-20th century town. At one point the protagonist disassembles a flashlight and discovers that it's just a flashlight-shaped case containing a small wormhole whose other end is in close orbit around a star. No one knew how to make an LED or incandescent bulb, or understood enough about early electronic components to hook one up to a switch and a battery. It was easier to make a wormhole generator and stick it in a metal tube.
Any alien species that is aware of our satellites is so technically superior to us they wouldn't bother. The James Webb Telecope is our best, but we still aren't certain we've named all the planets in our own solar system.
I saw a movie with Will Smith where aliens used TCPv4 to communicate their systems. So, why not?
Probably not all of them. The Voyager probes were launched in the 70s and they don't exactly need much encryption because they can only be programmed by someone with a massive transmitter.
As a member of the deep state, I can confirm this is true.
Thanks OP
You've been watching too much independence day huh.
All I can think of is alien adolescents reprogramming them to mess with humans. Fake invasion messages, alien memes. Like cowtipoing, but screwing with humans instead
Can you reprogram the satellites? Because it must only be easier for you to do it than aliens at least you understand human languages.
If he was an aerospace engineer maybe
Aka Russia. They will have cryptographic authentication lol
The joke is on the aliens.
Voyager's batteries are going to run out real soon, and then they won't be able to reprogram anything, it'll be just a huge paperweight.
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