The stakes for warfighters and our nation are too high to wait, as we can’t risk the confidentiality, integrity and availability of the space-based data on whic…
The number of space assets put on orbit in the last decade reaches into the thousands, with an estimated 10 more satellites per day being added through 2033. The resulting capabilities and coverage now available for military and civil use are extraordinary. Yet even with modern space systems evolving to be more resilient, the data transiting them can be vulnerable. That is because the pace of adoption of innovative cryptographic solutions needed to protect space-based data is not keeping up with the speed of asset deployments.
Legacy vulnerabilities meet modern threats
Historically, each satellite that is launched has some form of cryptographic solution to protect its payload and ensure the confidentiality, integrity and availability of the data that is transmitted to and from it. Existing on-orbit encryption capabilities typically cannot be reprogrammed to support new keys, algorithms and message types that are needed to defend against constantly evolving cyber threats, driven by near peer adversaries’ investment in advanced attack technologies.
Expected breakthroughs in quantum computing within the next decade will increase the risk. These challenges underscore the need for cryptographic agility and rapid re-programmability of modernized algorithms and protocols to ensure continued resilience.
Beyond legacy assets, cryptographic solutions integrated onto new satellites supporting defense and critical applications can lag mission needs due to lengthy acquisition cycles, long certification timelines and program sequencing challenges where crypto is integrated later in the cycle.
Yet preserving the information security of the space-based data and communications on which nearly all military operations depend is essential to the safety and effectiveness of our warfighters. Three common requirements embody clear examples of their importance: commercial capabilities hosting military services (e.g., communications and relays); space sensing capabilities; and position, navigation and timing. All are critical to and relied on by our warfighters every day, both strategically and tactically. If satellite telemetry, tracking and control (TT&C) or payload communications channels are jammed, intercepted or maliciously compromised, the results can be catastrophic.
There are several actions that can help secure against these threats:
- Rapid fielding of crypto modernized solutions over legacy devices
- Making cryptography for future satellites fully reprogrammable in space to bolster resiliency and enable development, security and operations (DevSecOps) cybersecurity principles
- Modern space encryption solutions that interface seamlessly with ground-based systems to simplify management and key orchestration
- Application of zero trust cybersecurity principles to rapidly detect and mitigate impacts of on-network threats
- Implementing transmission security (TRANSEC) measures― such as frequency hopping, spread spectrum, radio frequency obfuscation and other signal disruption resistance methods ― to prevent jamming and overcome denial of satellite data or communications
Preparing for the next era of defense
Ambitious space defense initiatives like the Golden Dome for America missile defense program and others demand modernized space encryption that protects against current and future threats. As the military moves into a new age of space capability, strengthening the cryptography and cybersecurity of mission critical space-based assets needs to be considered up front to protect against these threats. Modern encryption and cybersecurity are designed to be enablers and essential components of the entire cybersecurity framework, protecting space-based assets and communications through both communications security (COMSEC) and TRANSEC. This cannot be an afterthought; it must be designed in from the start of any new capability development.
The Defense Department is turning more attention to cryptographic modernization, but current certification and acquisition velocity is driving timelines. With such high stakes, effective and flexible cryptographic solutions are a future-proof enabler, empowering warfighters to confidently act on the space-based information they receive to carry out their missions. It is critical that appropriate prioritization and forethought be applied to ensure the robust space-based capabilities being developed for our warfighters are fielded and operated securely. Similarly, certification and acquisition approaches need to be streamlined to work at the speed of technology, getting high-assurance capabilities into the warfighters’ toolbox faster and more frequently.
Defense leaders partnering with industry at the beginning of the development process help to understand both what systems and resiliency capabilities providing cryptographic agility and rapid re-programmability are available today and what is coming. For their part, satellite system providers should be developing and providing resilient assets that can meet the high levels of security established by the National Security Agency. The stakes for warfighters and our nation are too high to wait, as we can’t risk the confidentiality, integrity and availability of the space-based data on which they rely.
David Schmolke is vice president and general manager of Viasat Government.
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