Framework helps manage cybersecurity risks for satellite missions
SCRM: An Actionable Framework for Space Cyber Risk Management
Cryptography and Security
Summary
Space systems like satellites are important but can be attacked by hackers, which can cause big problems. The authors created a first-of-its-kind framework called SCRM to understand and reduce these cybersecurity risks for space missions. Their system looks at the space infrastructure, missions, and possible cyber attacks, and uses algorithms to analyze risks and improve defenses. They tested it on real satellite communication attacks and found it can help prevent cascading failures and improve security using standards like NIST.
What this means in practice
- •For satellite operations teams: Use SCRM to analyze and strengthen satellite mission defenses against complex cyber attack chains.
- •For cybersecurity compliance teams: Improve implementation of NIST security standards for space infrastructures using SCRM’s risk analysis and mitigation algorithms.
Authors
Ekzhin Ear, Caleb Chang, Shouhuai Xu
Abstract
Space infrastructures play critical roles in modern society, including satellite communications (SATCOM). Like the Internet, space infrastructures are vulnerable to cyber attacks, or space cyber attacks, highlighting the importance of managing cyber risks to space infrastructures, or space cyber risks. However, adequately managing space cyber risks is an open problem. In this paper, we propose the first Space Cyber Risk Management (SCRM) framework to systematically analyze and mitigate space cyber risks. The framework models space infrastructures, space missions, and space cyber attacks, while offering algorithms for space mission risk analysis and hardening. We demonstrate its usefulness by conducting a case study on real-world space cyber attacks against the SATCOM infrastructure implemented in our testbed. Our results show, among other things, that: (i) dealing with space cyber attack cascading effects is essential to space cyber risk management; (ii) the framework can effectively harden space missions; (iii) National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) security controls can effectively mitigate space cyber risks.