有料盒子APP

Space Cyber Defense: An Adaptive, Proactive Approach

As a听trusted space partner听to the U.S. government, 有料盒子APP helps clients modernize capabilities for today鈥檚 greatest space challenges:听

  • Weaponization of space:听The U.S. must stay ahead of adversaries threatening space systems critical to our nation鈥檚 security, commerce, and way of life.
  • Addressing climate change:听Space-based earth observation is essential to research.
  • Congestion:听Tracking and protecting space assets is critical as satellite constellations grow exponentially.

Threats to Space Systems

The U.S. government has identified some of the most critical threats to space systems:

  • Rival nations have a听sophisticated knowledge听of satellite command and control and space distribution networks.
  • Many active space systems were designed before space was considered a contested domain.
  • More and more systems are connected to space assets, increasing the attack surface.
  • Commercial space ventures create more players and complexity.

听mandates cyber protections for space systems, supporting the national security goal of maintaining U.S. leadership and freedom of action in space.听

Operational Technology Meets IT

The White House鈥檚听for IT and operational technology (OT) underscores a critical aspect of space systems: They鈥檙e a hybrid of IT and OT.

鈥淭hese systems are at the intersection of the cyber and physical worlds,鈥 says Allison Mitrovich, 有料盒子APP chief engineer. 鈥淵ou must protect the threat surface of the physical systems听as well as their network connections.鈥

Understanding the Vulnerabilities

鈥淔or space cyber defense, you need to understand the mission, the ecosystem, and what threats make this environment different鈥攚hether in the systems themselves or the processes used to manage those systems,鈥 says Steve Bolish, who leads cybersecurity teams supporting clients including the U.S. Space Force. For example:

&驳迟;听Mission鈥擡nsure precision.听Many defense and intelligence space missions revolve around gathering information using geographical coordinates. Therefore, location matters.听

> Ecosystem鈥擴nderstand each layer.听罢丑别蝉别听operational technology听systems include satellites, ground systems, control centers, and connected devices. 鈥淵ou need to check every connection from the ground station to the space layer,鈥 says Allison.

> Threats鈥擫ook from the ground up.听Ground systems are the easiest for an adversary to attack鈥攆or example, jamming (OT attack) or pinging an uplink antenna (IT attack).Unencrypted public signals like GPS are especially vulnerable.

> Outsource with caution.听Although cloud providers work to scale security, system owners must still address the diverse vulnerabilities of every system layer, from access controls to satellite downlinks.

> Plan for breach.听鈥淵ou want to design not just for functionality, but resiliency鈥攁nd that means redundancy,鈥 Allison says. System designers should include elements like:

  • Reprogrammable payloads鈥攖o mitigate future threats听
  • Backup equipment鈥攆or example, a clock in case a satellite鈥檚 GPS connection is compromised
  • Protection at every phase鈥攆or example, a SpaceX rocket carrying dozens of Starlink satellites has extra complexities at launch

Explore Cybersecurity for Operational Technologies and More

Establishing the Framework

Advanced protection strategies begin with open frameworks, the foundation of flexible systems.听

Open Systems Architecture

Migrating to听open systems architecture听provides an entry point for next-generation engineering at the intersection of听. Through open standards and reusable components, open frameworks allow organizations to:听听

  • Modernize legacy systems effectively
  • Build security into new data platforms efficiently
  • Establish continuous innovation while owning the technical baseline

IT/OT Best Practices

As a blend of IT and OT, space systems need cyber protections similar to that of听industrial control systems听and other听operational technology鈥攆or example, automated processes. They need safeguards mandated for all government IT systems, such as:

Designing Cyber Strategies: MBSE and Threat Libraries

To thwart adversaries in the high-stakes domain of space, cyber specialists must go beyond general principles to mitigate the vulnerabilities of that specific system.

The next generation of space systems needs to be developed with cybersecurity in mind from Day One. That鈥檚 where听model-based systems engineering听(MBSE) comes in. MBSE includes customized specialties such as reverse engineering and听digital twins.

Reverse Engineering: Discover Vulnerabilities听

鈥淔or years, we鈥檝e been reverse-engineering legacy systems鈥攆or example, launch systems from 40 years ago that never had an as-built [contractor drawing submitted at project completion],鈥 says Steve Bolish, a cyber director in our Colorado Springs office.听

鈥淲e decompose a system into its parts so the military has an understanding of how to modernize it. And it allows us to identify built-in vulnerabilities so they can mitigate them鈥攁nd replace legacy systems with modern, secure, sustainable architectures.鈥澨

Digital Twins: Prepare for the Unknown

鈥淲e can build a digital twin of the whole system rapidly鈥攇round control, uplink, and space vehicle,鈥 Allison says. 鈥淲ith digital twins, you can learn to manage in the unknown.鈥

Once the virtual model is built, cyber specialists conduct vulnerability scans and penetration tests. They can then:听

  • Illuminate potential vulnerabilities
  • Develop mitigations to pre-empt attack
  • Prioritize by severity of weakness and complexity of mitigation

Our teams maintain a custom听threat hunt library听which we leverage along with client data to supply a continually updated reference. This allows cyber specialists to build a picture of what鈥檚 normal, identify anomalies, and continually refine the system鈥檚 threat posture.

Applying the NIST Cybersecurity Framework Using MBSE听

Space cybersecurity can be mapped to the NIST framework for managing cyber risk. Digital twins can be used in all five functions, regardless of the organization鈥檚 cyber maturity level. Here are a few examples:

  • Identify听鈥 Assess vulnerabilities听via scans and penetration tests, informing the risk management strategy听
  • Protect听鈥 Mitigate risks听discovered听in simulations (update software, change processes)
  • Detect听鈥 Monitor continuously听to discover anomalies, continually refining the threat library so weaknesses can be found and pre-emptively fixed听
  • Respond听鈥 Operate using backup strategies听developed and tested via the virtual model
  • Recover 鈥 Ideally with little or no impact to service, employ plans tested through simulation; leverage insights to prevent future attacks听

Leading the Edge of Space Cyber Defense

As adversaries develop new methods of attack, we invent new ways to protect. Here are some concepts we鈥檙e taking to cyber鈥檚 leading edge.

Space Cyber Test Range

Our PNT teams are working to create a simulated ecosystem depicting space assets in orbit. A digital twin can then be linked to a that system鈥檚 physical ground station and operations center or digital representations of those elements. This will accelerate threat detection and mitigation across the system lifecycle.

AI at the Edge

Advances in analytics and cloud capabilities enable AI to play an increasing role.

  • AI can be applied at multiple points鈥攖o add insights during data ingestion, analysis, and dissemination.
  • Applied at the edge, close to the device, AI enables immediate insights.

For example, 鈥淕round stations can be upgraded to act as a smart sensor, ingesting and analyzing data as it streams in rather than sending low-level metrics to a data lake,鈥 Steve says.听

Smart systems will advance the mission as well as protect it. 鈥淲ith听AI at the point of the sensor, you can know you鈥檙e getting a valid signal. That would allow decisions to be made at the speed of the data鈥攁 major goal for JADC2,鈥 he points out.

Integrating Systems Engineering, Cyber, and MBSE

鈥淭raditional systems engineers envision separate tracks for systems engineering, MBSE, and听cybersecurity. We integrate it all,鈥 Steve says.

鈥淐lients get an 鈥榓ha!鈥 moment when we point out that the same documents can be used for all three tracks.鈥 Conducting the activities concurrently delivers advantages such as:

  • The digital model can be tested along with the built system.
  • Threat analysis can be run earlier.
  • Fewer documents are required.
  • Development timelines are shortened.

鈥淐reating a parallel path for systems integration, cyber, and MBSE truly gives the client a build that鈥檚 faster, cheaper, and better,鈥 Steve says.

Discover More on Artificial Intelligence in Space

Enter the Future of Space Cyber Defense

When clients engage us to secure space systems, they know they鈥檒l receive state-of-the-art听cybersecurity听from a听leader in the field. Here鈥檚 a snapshot of what we provide:听听

Intelligence and Defense Understanding

  • We鈥檝e supported some of the nation鈥檚 most sensitive听defense听and听intelligence听missions. Trusted by all six of the Department of Defense鈥檚 cyber commands, we are the only company to hold every U.S. government elite cyber accreditation.
  • Reverse-engineering legacy systems makes us experts in spotting and mitigating vulnerabilities.
  • We put our clients鈥 mission first, using open standards that put the government in control.
  • AI-powered analytics allows for automated protection and detection.

Digital Engineering and Agile Development

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