Satellite Communications Cybersecurity For Managers
Satellites are part of the extended cyber ecosystem for most organizations, which makes satellite communications cybersecurity essential.
The truth is, satellites pose unique cybersecurity challenges that add to their appeal as targets.
Because satellite operations are led by technologies that are housed on earth, those earth-bound entry points offer cyber attackers with an enormous number of potential inroads for hacking.
The vast number of entry points also compounds the difficulty of tracing and shutting down a cyber-attack.
One the most significant weaknesses that is common to all satellite systems is the use of long-range telemetry for communication with ground stations. The uplinks and downlinks are often transmitted through open telecom network security protocols that are easily accessed by cyber criminals.
IoT devices that utilize satellite communications pose additional potential points of entry for bad actors.
Satellite ground stations are particularly vulnerable – an attacker could potentially trespass through an organization’s network starting from the infiltrated satellite ground station.
The cry for more stringent cybersecurity standards has recently been answered by the Space Force office, which buys commercial services for the Department of Defense. The Space Force will begin to enforce stringent cybersecurity standards for commercial third-party SATCOM providers.
The Infrastructure Asset Pre-Assessment (IA-Pre) program will require satcom providers to get on-site, third-party assessors to validate their compliance with cybersecurity standards before they can bid on CSCO contracts to sell their services to the U.S. military, Reece said.
The move to finally implement IA-Pre comes amid growing concerns that near-peer adversaries could use cyberattacks to blind or cripple commercial satellites on which the U.S. military increasingly relies for its communications.
The IA-Pre standards have yet to be published, but industry sources said they will be based on those set by the National Institute for Standards and Technology (NIST) in its Special Publication 800-53, with an overlay of additional measures specific to the space sector.
The satellite communications cybersecurity standards are expected to over spacecraft, ground stations, teleports and vendors’ business IT networks.
Satellite Communications Cybersecurity For Managers Course by Tonex
Satellite Communications Cybersecurity For Managers is a 2-day training designed for managers, policymakers, analysts and and non-engineers with little or no satellite communication (SATCOM) or cybersecurity experience. The course is also useful for those who have experience with SATCOM and cybersecurity but have never had any formal training.
Topics Include:
- Principles of Satellite Communications
- Principles of Cybersecurity
- Cybersecurity and Space Systems
- Analyzing Space Threats and Threat Vectors
- Satellite Communications Cybersecurity Principles
- Cybersecurity Threats Analysis to Satellite Communications and Space Systems
- Risk Assessment using RMF (Risk Management Framework)
- Cybersecurity and Space Sustainability
- Cybersecurity and Positioning Navigation and Taming (PNT)
- DevSecOps Applied Satellite Systems and Space Assets
- Space Cybersecurity Engineering: design, build, configure, secure,
operate, maintain, and sustain communications systems and networks - GPS Next-Generation Operational Control System Cyber Hardening
- Space Cybersecurity Test and Evaluation (T&E)
- Cyberspace Operations
- Offensive Cyberspace Operations
- Defensive Cyberspace Operations
- Space Cyber Warfare Strategies Satellite and Cyberspace Activities