Market Segment
Aerospace supports the development of space-centric cybersecurity standards utilizing defense-in-depth techniques for space systems to ensure their resiliency to cyber intrusions. The way forward and potential solutions will include increased cooperation across disciplines and will require a blend of policy and technical solutions.
The most basic definition of cybersecurity is to take measures that protect a computer or computer system against unauthorized access or attack. Cybersecurity is important because government, corporate, financial, and medical organizations collect, process, and store unprecedented amounts of data on satellites, computers, and other electronic devices. Data is transmitted via satellite-to-satellite and ground-to-space communications, traditional ground-based networking infrastructure, and the internet. The threats to exploiting the vulnerabilities within ground infrastructure and spacecraft are often overlooked in wider discussions about cyber threats to critical national infrastructure.
The space enterprise, ranging from spacecraft to mission operations centers, is often the target of cyberattacks. Despite the space industry’s technical sophistication, its cybersecurity efforts have lagged behind those of other high-technology sectors. Space systems have subscribed to the “security by obscurity” model for far too long. As evidenced by the prevalence of vulnerabilities and attack vectors that go unimpeded, space systems ranging from smallsats to billion-dollar satellites to complex rovers face substantial cybersecurity challenges and vulnerabilities.
Aerospace supports the development of space-centric cybersecurity standards utilizing defense-in-depth techniques for space systems to ensure their resiliency to cyber intrusions. The way forward and potential solutions will include increased cooperation across disciplines and will require a blend of policy and technical solutions. The best strategy moving forward is a threat-informed risk mitigation strategy to protect our critical space systems, which the Space Safety Institute will advance.
Risk management is a key component when architecting a secure space system or assessing its security gaps. Not all security controls can be implemented due to resources (or even technology) and schedules. When trying to establish which cybersecurity controls should be employed by a mission or set of missions, it should be a risk-based decision and not solely driven by compliance. Once threats or vulnerabilities are understood and prioritized, regardless of legacy or future deployment, mitigations can be deployed, or risks can be accepted. Aerospace has the capabilities to perform the necessary risk-based cyber analysis for each critical mission or capability. The Space Safety Institute will provide cyber assessments to include vulnerability assessments, red/blue teaming, threat modeling, mission resiliency modeling, and threat hunting, supported and enabled by space cyber laboratories and test ranges.
Faced with relentless growth in air traffic, more competition and new environmental challenges, stakeholders in the air transport sector are engaged in a digital revolution as they move to share information more effectively. Throughout, cybersecurity is key and all need to get behind efforts to place aerospace cybersecurity at the heart of tomorrow’s networks and applications.
The players in the air transport sector are highly interdependent, and today they are becoming increasingly interconnected. As a result, the sector needs to adapt its cybersecurity posture and adopt a coordinated approach at all levels, just as it has done with flight safety.
Our goal is to help people in the best way possible. This is a basic principle in every case and cause for success. contact us today for a free consultation.
Sign up to our newsletter
