JANUS: Denial-of-Service Attack Against Beam Hopping in LEO Satellite Networks
Researchers present JANUS, a botnet-driven attack that manipulates beam-hopping schedulers in LEO satellite networks, denying service to up to 95% of victims.
JANUS is a targeted denial-of-service attack against beam-hopping systems in LEO satellite networks, exploiting the scheduler's reliance on observed traffic demand. A small botnet of compromised terminals injects legitimate-looking traffic into non-victim cells, distorting demand estimates and redirecting beams away from the victim area. Against a rank-based KMAX scheduler, JANUS achieves complete service denial for up to ~95% of evaluated victims; against a DRL scheduler, it excludes the victim from ~92% of scheduling decisions. The authors also propose mitigation strategies that reduce attack effectiveness.