Cybersecurity has never been more important than it is now – in space.
Technological advances impact just about every facet of living including deployment of new software directed at satellites and space systems. Satellite operators for example are increasingly interested in software-defined satellites that can be reprogrammed on orbit, allowing them to take on different missions and serve different customers.
But while such satellites can be more responsive to shifts in customer demand, they also need more security features to keep nefarious actors from exploiting their new capabilities by reprogramming the reprogramming.
As with concerns on Earth with 5G wireless networks, space security specialists warn that you can’t have an era of satellites generating massive amounts of data and processing it without a much greater security capability.
Military satellites and space systems are especially vulnerable since almost all modern military engagements rely on space-based assets, providing GPS coordinates, telecommunications, monitoring and more. Aging IT systems, supply-chain vulnerabilities and other technological issues that leave military satellite communications open to disruption and tampering also need to be addressed according to space security personnel.
This is particularly crucial given reports that both China and Russia have been going all-out with their armies of state-backed hackers to dominate in the area of cyberwarfare.
Cyber risks to military satellites are many including GPS digital spoofing, which involves hacking into a space system and intercepting and manipulating data to provide false information to troops and therefore allowing attackers to re-route movements of forces.
Reports have surfaced that Russian space capabilities and their cyber technologies pose particular threats to NATO because the country relies on its own GLONASSsatellite system, rather than the U.S.-provided GPS or the European Union’s Galileo system. What this means is that Russia can conduct cyberattacks on satellites without the risk of impacting its own systems. China also has its own satellite system and could also conduct similar operations.
The Chatham House think tank organization has reported that these capabilities have been deployed during conflicts in Syria and Ukraine, with Russia using attacks to jam GPS signals of remotely piloted aircraft in order to ground them.
Among the recommendations to improve cybersecurity in space is to increase training for space security specialists, especially in the use of artificial intelligence and machine learning to identify and respond to threats.
This is where Tonex can help with its new program Certified Space Security Specialist Professional (CSSSP) Certification, a 5-day course intended to accelerate space cybersecurity careers with the CSSSP certification.
The Certified Space Security Specialist Professional (CSSSP) certification is ideal for space and security practitioners, analysts, engineers, managers and executives interested in proving their knowledge across space security practices and principles.
The CSSSP® (Certified Space Systems Security Professional) qualification is one of the most respected certifications in the space security industry, demonstrating an advanced knowledge of space cybersecurity.
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