T-Minus: Space-Cyber Briefing

Milenk Starcevic, Vision Space’s cybersecurity chief, and Andrzej “Andy” Olchawa, a spacecraft security researcher and co-author of The Spacecraft Hacker’s Handbook, explore the fast-growing space cybersecurity field. They discuss why compliance, auditing, and testing are crucial career skills, and how direct-to-mobile satellite service, orbital data centers, and lunar infrastructure could dramatically expand everyday cyber risks.

Though spacecraft are important, space cybersecurity extends well beyond these assets touching ground stations, mission-control assets, and other critical components. Host Maria Varmazis speaks with Milenk Starcik, Head of Cybersecurity at Vision Space, and Andrzej “Andy” Olchawa, Senior Cybersecurity Engineer also at Vision Space, about the broader space cybersecurity attack surface. By considering all aspects of a space mission, both in orbit and on the ground, cybersecurity professionals can better understand where vulnerabilities exist and what measures can be taken to reduce risk. Like what you heard? Be sure to subscribe to our free Signals and Space Briefing⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, our Sunday newsletter covering the intersection of cybersecurity and space. Subscribe at: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://thecyberwire.com/newsletters/signals-and-space⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Key Sources: The Spacecraft Hacker's Handbook. Is there a topic or person you’d like to hear on our show? You can send your questions and feedback to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠[email protected]⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. You can also fill our our audience survey: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/NJYCN2P ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ T-Minus: Space-Cyber Briefing is a production of N2K CyberWire. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠N2K⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ is your nexus for discovery and connection for people, technology, and ideas shaping the future of secure innovation. Learn how at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠n2k.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Space infrastructure has become an increasingly important part of everyday life, which has also made it an increasingly attractive target for exploitation. Host Maria Varmazis and Sean MacKirdy, Area Vice President for the National Security vertical at Elastic Government Solutions, sit down to discuss how space stakeholders need to reevaluate their approach to securing space systems. As space systems continue to grow more important, malicious actors are going to look to target them more often. By adopting a stronger universal framework and a consistent way to interpret data across all spacecraft, space cybersecurity practitioners will be able to standardize their practices and create more effective and timely responses. Key Sources: SPARTA v4.0 Maria Varmazis interviews Brandon Bailey about Space Attack Research and Tactic Analysis, or SPARTA matrix. Like what you heard? Be sure to subscribe to our free Signals and Space Briefing⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, our Sunday newsletter covering the intersection of cybersecurity and space. Subscribe at: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://thecyberwire.com/newsletters/signals-and-space⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Is there a topic or person you’d like to hear on our show? You can send your questions and feedback to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠[email protected]⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. You can also fill our our audience survey: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/NJYCN2P ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ T-Minus: Space-Cyber Briefing is a production of N2K CyberWire. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠N2K⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ is your nexus for discovery and connection for people, technology, and ideas shaping the future of secure innovation. Learn how at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠n2k.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As space becomes increasingly connected and autonomous, effective cybersecurity policy is struggling to keep pace. Host Maria Varmazis and ⁠⁠⁠Dr. Mac McGuire sit down to discuss the limitations of current approaches for managing space cyber risks and what the industry is lacking. The two discuss how the space incidents have the potential to significantly impact astronauts by disrupting oxygen systems, thermal regulation, and telemetry. Like what you heard? Be sure to subscribe to our free Signals and Space Briefing⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, our Sunday newsletter covering the intersection of cybersecurity and space. Subscribe at: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://thecyberwire.com/newsletters/signals-and-space⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Is there a topic or person you’d like to hear on our show? You can send your questions and feedback to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠[email protected]⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. You can also fill our our audience survey: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/NJYCN2P ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ T-Minus: Space-Cyber Briefing is a production of N2K CyberWire. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠N2K⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ is your nexus for discovery and connection for people, technology, and ideas shaping the future of secure innovation. Learn how at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠n2k.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Andy Davis, Global Research Director at NCC Group and a cybersecurity veteran, explores why time is a critical cyber dependency. He discusses GPS spoofing, network manipulation, and virtualized clocks; how altered timestamps can revive expired certificates; and the risks to power infrastructure. The conversation also examines subtle timing drift, leap-second failures, and ways to validate time across independent sources.

Despite the space sector's consistent growth and greater importance as a critical infrastructure sector, finding cybersecurity talent is still proving to be a challenge. Host Maria Varmazis and Nick Cohen, Principal Engineer at the Aerospace Corporation, sat down to discuss the current state of space's cybersecurity workforce. The two look at how the existing workforce is not large enough to effectively cover the industry and its infrastructure and how solutions like the Aerospace Village at DEF CON 34 have been aiming to address expertise shortcomings. Key sources: The SPARTA Framework SpaceCOP SpaceTrail StarPWN The Aerospace Village SPARTA 4.0 Debut Experience the convergence of space and cyber threats at DEF CON 34 SPARTA v4.0 — Breaking New Ground Like what you heard? Be sure to subscribe to our free Signals and Space Briefing⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, our Sunday newsletter covering the intersection of cybersecurity and space. Subscribe at: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://thecyberwire.com/newsletters/signals-and-space⁠⁠⁠⁠ Is there a topic or person you’d like to hear on our show? You can send your questions and feedback to ⁠⁠⁠⁠[email protected]⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. You can also fill our our audience survey: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/NJYCN2P ⁠⁠⁠⁠ T-Minus: Space-Cyber Briefing is a production of N2K CyberWire. ⁠⁠⁠⁠N2K⁠⁠⁠⁠ is your nexus for discovery and connection for people, technology, and ideas shaping the future of secure innovation. Learn how at ⁠⁠⁠⁠n2k.com⁠⁠⁠⁠. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As space infrastructure has continued to expand, developing secure space systems has become just as important as launching the spacecraft themselves. In this week's episode, host Maria Varmazis sits down with Filip Rezabek, co-founder and CTO of Space Computer, to talk about some of the technologies being created to secure space infrastructure in orbit. The two discuss the importance of establishing a chain of trust in space and the challenges of securing hardware against supply chain attacks. Like what you heard? Be sure to subscribe to our free Signals and Space Briefing⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, our Sunday newsletter covering the intersection of cybersecurity and space. Subscribe at: ⁠⁠⁠https://thecyberwire.com/newsletters/signals-and-space⁠⁠⁠ Is there a topic or person you’d like to hear on our show? You can send your questions and feedback to ⁠⁠⁠[email protected]⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. You can also fill our our audience survey: ⁠⁠⁠https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/NJYCN2P ⁠⁠⁠ T-Minus: Space-Cyber Briefing is a production of N2K CyberWire. ⁠⁠⁠N2K⁠⁠⁠ is your nexus for discovery and connection for people, technology, and ideas shaping the future of secure innovation. Learn how at ⁠⁠⁠n2k.com⁠⁠⁠. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As AI products proliferate, they continue to introduce new concerns, which have subtly eroded trust in imagery and content created by space-based infrastructure. In this week's episode, host Maria Varmazis sits down with ⁠⁠⁠Dave Bittner and Brandon Karpf to look at Google's troubled implementation of Nano Banana 2 in Google Earth. The incident raises larger concerns regarding how AI systems are becoming deeper ingrained into everyday life despite their ability to be misused and spread misinformation. Like what you heard? Be sure to subscribe to our free Signals and Space Briefing⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, our Sunday newsletter covering the intersection of cybersecurity and space. Subscribe at: ⁠⁠https://thecyberwire.com/newsletters/signals-and-space⁠⁠ Is there a topic or person you’d like to hear on our show? You can send your questions and feedback to ⁠⁠[email protected]⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. You can also fill our our audience survey: ⁠⁠https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/NJYCN2P ⁠⁠ T-Minus: Space-Cyber Briefing is a production of N2K CyberWire. ⁠⁠N2K⁠⁠ is your nexus for discovery and connection for people, technology, and ideas shaping the future of secure innovation. Learn how at ⁠⁠n2k.com⁠⁠. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As commercial space activity accelerates, satellite manufacturers are rethinking how spacecraft are designed, built, and secured. In this week's episode, host Maria Varmazis sits down with Jason Roberson, an Industry Value Expert for Aerospace & Defense at Dassault Systems, to discuss how AI, automation, and digital engineering are transforming the space industry's product lifecycle. From digital twins and AI-assisted design to the future of in-space maintenance, Jason explores how these technologies are accelerating innovation while reshaping manufacturing. At the same time, the conversation examines the growing cybersecurity challenges that accompany this transformation and why building secure-by-design principles into space systems will be critical. Like what you heard? Be sure to subscribe to our free Signals and Space Briefing⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, our Sunday newsletter covering the intersection of cybersecurity and space. Subscribe at: ⁠https://thecyberwire.com/newsletters/signals-and-space⁠ Is there a topic or person you’d like to hear on our show? You can send your questions and feedback to ⁠[email protected]⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. You can also fill our our audience survey: ⁠https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/NJYCN2P ⁠ T-Minus: Space-Cyber Briefing is a production of N2K CyberWire. ⁠N2K⁠ is your nexus for discovery and connection for people, technology, and ideas shaping the future of secure innovation. Learn how at ⁠n2k.com⁠. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As the space ecosystem continues to expand, the sector has become increasingly filled with new suppliers, manufacturers, and operators. However, while this development has led to the introduction of new technologies, it has also greatly expanded space's cyberattack surface. In this week's episode, host Maria Varmazis sits down with Jen Sovada, General Manager of Public Sector at Claroty. During the conversation, the two explore how vulnerabilities within the space supply chain can impact mission assurance. They discuss how the expanding space supply chain ecosystem has expanded the attack surface. Like what you heard? Be sure to subscribe to our free Signals and Space Briefing⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, our Sunday newsletter covering the intersection of cybersecurity and space. Subscribe at: https://thecyberwire.com/newsletters/signals-and-space Is there a topic or person you’d like to hear on our show? You can send your questions and feedback to [email protected]⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. You can also fill our our audience survey: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/NJYCN2P T-Minus: Space-Cyber Briefing is a production of N2K CyberWire. N2K is your nexus for discovery and connection for people, technology, and ideas shaping the future of secure innovation. Learn how at n2k.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices