UPDATED 12:00 EDT / SEPTEMBER 28 2020

SECURITY

Industry and government leaders address global threats at Space & Cybersecurity Symposium 2020

It is easy to take for granted, but life would be vastly different without global reliance on space-based technology. Everything from GPS to weather tracking and a significant amount of web-based communications depends heavily on a complicated network of satellites orbiting Earth.

Any disruption in this critical technology could have broad global implications, and this has led the U.S. government to issue a set of directives earlier this month that represented the first comprehensive cybersecurity policy for systems in outer space.

“The security of the homeland depends on the security of our space systems, interests and freedom of our action in space,” said Acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf, who issued a statement with the latest directives release. “The policy unveiled today is a critical step in establishing a baseline standard for cybersecurity as America leads in space and cyberspace alike.”

Concerns about space and cybersecurity are not unwarranted. In August, a security researcher from Oxford University demonstrated how he could gain access to sensitive data on corporate networks by hacking into satellite transmissions. All it took was $300 of home TV gear and a knowledge of where satellites can be tracked. When the researcher — James Pavur — discovered sensitive information about the captain of a billionaire’s yacht and a private law firm, he realized that the final frontier was anything but secure.

“When we were looking at these networks, we often found ourselves behind the corporate firewall,” said Pavur during an interview after presenting his findings as part of Black Hat Cybersecurity 2020. “So, we found a lot of corporations were treating the satellite environment like it was the inside of their offices, when in reality it was being broadcast over entire continents.”

TheCUBE, SiliconANGLE Media’s livestreaming studio, will be broadcasting interviews with government executives and key industry leaders as part of the Space & Cybersecurity Symposium 2020 event, scheduled for October 5–8. Discussion topics will focus on the relationship between cybersecurity and space-based infrastructure, what this means for national efforts and resources at the federal level, and the role of academia and the private sector in helping to secure space-driven technologies.

Increasing number of satellites

The federal government’s latest space and cybersecurity initiative includes guidelines for encrypting data generated by satellites and other vehicles launched into orbit. Companies should also use trusted supply chains and monitor the security of ground systems.

The most recent directive was issued at a time when advances in technology by various private firms have led to an increase on the number of satellites orbiting Earth. In November, aerospace company SpaceX Corp. launched 60 Starlink satellites as part of its initiative to deploy global broadband internet access. SpaceX has plans to add 1,000 more satellites by the end of next year.

“It’s estimated that 3.6 billion people don’t have access to the internet, and the UN considers broadband access as a key enabler to economic development,” said Patricia Cooper, vice president of satellite government affairs for SpaceX, during a January meeting of astronomers in Washington, D.C. “We think space-based internet could be of real use to those goals.”

Hacking threats

However, the most recent moves by the U.S. government to bolster security signal growing concern around the ability of nation states to hack space-based infrastructure. Over the past decade, Russia, North Korea and Iran have been accused of jamming GPS signals in various countries during populist movements.

In 2014, Chinese hackers successfully breached the satellite communications network used by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration for weather forecasting. Early in September, the Department of Defense issued a new report that outlined concerns that China was developing an elaborate cyber weapons program to target low- and high-orbit satellites.

“The People’s Liberation Army continues to invest in improving its capabilities in space-based intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR), satellite communication, satellite navigation, and meteorology, as well as human spaceflight and robotic space exploration,” the Pentagon report stated. “China plans to have a permanently operating space station by 2022 that will host its own and foreign payloads and astronauts.”

Security threats posed by China and other nations have placed greater emphasis on public/private partnerships in the expansion of U.S. space-based infrastructure. Space industry startup companies received $5.7 billion in venture-backed financing last year, a record amount, according to a report from Bryce Space and Technology.

One public official tasked with building bridges between the investment community and the military in furthering protection of the nation’s space interests is Brigadier General Steven Butow, director of the space portfolio at the Pentagon’s Defense Innovation Unit. Butow, who is scheduled to speak at the Symposium event, has stressed the importance of collaboration between Silicon Valley and the military in leveraging technology to protect U.S. national security.

The DIU has provided funding for $200 million in space projects, led by private sector firms that generated an additional $2.5 billion in private investment.

“We have the power, where it makes sense, of leveraging and using public private partnerships to our advantage,” said Butow, during an interview in August. “This is a strategic advantage for the United States. We can leverage a lot of that private investment without putting a burden on programs of record which can only be done by the government.”

Livestream of Space & Cybersecurity Symposium 2020 event

Space & Cybersecurity Symposium 2020 is a livestream event with additional interviews to be broadcast on theCUBE. You can register for free here to access the live coverage. You can also watch it on demand on theCUBE’s dedicated page and YouTube channel. (* Disclosure below.)

How to watch theCUBE interviews

We offer you various ways to watch the live coverage of the Space & Cybersecurity Symposium 2020 digital event, including theCUBE’s dedicated website and YouTube channel. You can also get all the coverage from this year’s events on SiliconANGLE.

TheCUBE Insights podcast

SiliconANGLE also has podcasts available of archived interview sessions, available on iTunes, Stitcher, and Spotify, which you can enjoy while on the go.

Guests who will be interviewed on theCUBE during the Space & Cybersecurity Symposium 2020 digital event

Guests who will be interviewed on theCUBE during the Space & Cybersecurity Symposium 2020 digital event include Lt. Gen John F. Thompson, commander for Space and Missile Systems Center at the Los Angeles Air Force Base; Chris Henson, technical director of Space & Weapons Cybersecurity Solutions at the National Security Agency; and Jeffrey Armstrong, Cal Poly University president.

TheCUBE will also speak with Bong Gumahad, director of the C4/ISR Division OUSD (A&S) for the DOD; Steven D. Jacques, executive director and founder of the National Security Space Association; and Stewart Knox, undersecretary of the California Labor & Workforce Development Agency.

For a complete list of guests joining theCUBE, click here.

(* Disclosure: TheCUBE is a media partner for the Space & Cybersecurity Symposium 2020 digital event. Neither Cal Poly University, the host of the Space & Cybersecurity Symposium, nor other sponsors have editorial control over content on theCUBE or SiliconANGLE.)

Photo: SiliconANGLE

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