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Santiago (AFP) – The ALMA astronomical observatory, one of the most powerful radio telescopes in the world, located in northern Chile, resumed its work almost two months after suffering a cyberattack, its director, Sean Dougherty, confirmed to AFP on Wednesday.
“Resuming scientific observations was our top priority after the attack,” which occurred on October 29, Dougherty said.
The attack on ALMA’s computer systems caused the suspension of astronomical observations and affected several servers and critical operating equipment.
“The great demand for observing with ALMA ensures that there is always enormous pressure for the observatory to observe as much as possible,” added Dougherty.
The ALMA director explained that all the observatory’s critical systems, such as the telescope control, the archive and the data processor, were repeatedly tested before being able to return to observations.
“After the recovery of the computer systems, an enormous amount of work was needed to carry out the full tests,” added the director of the venue.
The observatory’s computer team took steps to prevent the loss and damage of scientific data and computer infrastructure from this attack, which is being investigated by Chilean police.
“In the coming weeks, the focus will be on recovering the infrastructure and test systems such as the ALMA website and other services, which will make it possible to restore all existing functionalities before the cyberattack,” said a statement posted on the site. provisional website that implemented the radio telescope until its official page, still affected by the attack, was restored.
The Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA, for its acronym in English) has 66 antennas, which are located more than 5,000 meters above sea level on the Chajnantor plain, in the Atacama desert.
The complex, which began exploring the Universe in 2011, collaborated last April in the discovery of the most distant galaxy ever detected, located 13.5 billion light years away.
300 professionals work at ALMA.
© 2022 AFP