The incident required the lab to suspend its observations at Gemini North, which is located in Hawaii. The NOIRLab cybersecurity team acted quickly and said they were thus able to prevent damage to the observatory, according to a notice the lab released. As the NOIRLab IT team creates a recovery plan alongside its cyber experts, the Gemini North telescope has been stowed away in "its zenith-pointing position." Gemini North is one of only two telescopes at the Gemini Observatory and is part of an international science partnership between various countries, including the US, Canada, and Chile; the other telescope — Gemini South — is located in Cerro Pachón, Chile. Last November, the Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA) radio telescope in Chile became an unlikely target for a cyberattack when unknown assailants knocked its systems offline.

Source: The North Africa Journal August 05, 2023 07:24 UTC