Elon Musk sends a serious warning to the people of Ukraine

Like billions of people around the world, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk is closing monitoring the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine. As you may recall, early this week Musk sent hundreds of Starlink terminals to Ukraine, ten hours after the country’s leaders pleaded for help.

Over the past few days,  Musk’s Starlink satellite system has been providing much-needed internet access to the people of Ukraine. However, it may not be for long. As the war rages on, the Russian military has destroyed all the communications systems in Ukraine. Starlink is now the only non-Russian communications system still working in some parts of the country.

Yesterday, Musk delivered bad news to many Ukrainians, saying that there was a high probability that Starlink terminals would be targeted by malicious actors. The goal of these hackers is to prevent Ukrainians from having access to an independent, fast and secure internet.

“Important warning: Starlink is the only non-Russian communications system still working in some parts of Ukraine, so probability of being targeted is high. Please use with caution,” Musk tweeted.

Important warning: Starlink is the only non-Russian communications system still working in some parts of Ukraine, so probability of being targeted is high. Please use with caution.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 3, 2022

Musk, as usual, did not elaborate nor did he recommend any precautions. Musk’s warning has generated a lot of questions from users. When asked if Starlink could also be under the threat of a cyberattack from Russia, like how Viasat was a few weeks ago?

Musk responded, “Almost all Viasat Ukraine user terminals were rendered permanently unusable by a Russian cyberattack on day of invasion, so … yes.”

Almost all Viasat Ukraine user terminals were rendered permanently unusable by a Russian cyberattack on day of invasion, so … yes

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 4, 2022

This is not the first time Elon Musk has helped countries in need. In January, Elon Musk offered to provide emergency Starlink Satellite internet to the people of Tonga after a massive undersea volcano eruption knocked out communication links and cut off the country from the rest of the world.