At 20:34 17/04/2007, you wrote:

Interesting article in SANS News today. (SANS is a network/computer security organization... http://www.sans.org)

--Tamil Rebels Hijack US Satellite Signal (April 13, 2007) Rebel independence fighters in Sri Lanka have been pirating the services of a US satellite to send radio and television broadcasts to other countries. In 1997, the US government identified this particular group, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, or LTTE, as a terrorist organization. The satellite belongs to Intelstat, a US company. Intelstat officials have been meeting with technical experts and Sri Lanka's Ambassador to the US to discuss measures the company it is taking to prevent the satellite's unauthorized use. The rebels maintain they are not accessing the satellite illegally. http://australianit.news.comhttp://australianit.news.com.au/articles/0,7204,21549846%5E15322%5E%5Enbv%5E,00.html .au/articles/0,7204,21549846%5E15322%5E%5Enbv%5E,00.htmlhttp://australianit.news.com.au/articles/0,7204,21549846%5E15322%5E%5Enbv%5E,00.html http://www.radioaustralia.net.au/news/stories/s1897037.htm

The question comes to mind -- what if the "rebels" were licensed hams and using a ham HEO (if one were up)? Talk about a political nightmare...

I seem to remember a long while ago, I think in the mid 80's, seeing a report in a UK newspaper, about terrorists in I think Libya, using what was described as a " semi-defunct" amateur satellite for communications... or is my mind playing tricks on me. I've thought about this several times recently, bearing in mind the world political situation, if a commercial satellite can be compromised, so may others, and it need not be an HEO!