Cyberthieves hit European Space Agency, stealing hundreds of gigabytes of data

A circular patch with the letters "esa" in white against a blue background with the edge of the circle filled by various flags of countries around the world. Behind the patch are vertical strands of white numbers saying either 0 or 1 against a black background.

The European Space Agency (ESA) is recovering from a string of cyberattacks that leaked hundreds of gigabytes of potentially sensitive data onto dark web forums.

The agency responded by launching a criminal investigation against the unknown hackers. But a leading space cybersecurity researcher warns that many such attacks have previously gone unnoticed and that sensitive data including email credentials of ESA, and also NASA, employees are frequently offered for sale on dark web forums.