On September 18th, Viasat welcomed government and industry leaders to its Carlsbad, CA campus to discuss pressing cybersecurity issues, particularly those affecting space providers and their partners. The event included representatives from the White House Office of the National Cyber Director (ONCD), NASA, NIST, and industry voices like Red Balloon Security and Intel Labs. The discussion was catalyzed by the ONCD’s “Back to the Building Blocks” report.
The report emphasizes the importance of addressing software vulnerabilities through memory safety and formal verification methods, highlighting the potential impact on space systems. As space becomes increasingly vital to both commercial and government sectors, it has also become a prime target for cyber threats.
In 2023, the White House ONCD team organized a series of space cybersecurity technical workshops to solicit input from across the space community. Viasat was one of those organizations that contributed to the collective thoughts from across the space domain.
Nick Saunders, Chief Cybersecurity and Data Officer for Global Space Networks at Viasat, led and participated in the event on campus and has been one of Viasat’s team members engaged in these continued discussions in public-private sector forums.
“The world of cybersecurity for space systems needs more than checkbox-based cybersecurity,” said Saunders. “I would [also] like to give credit to ONCD for the work done over the last two years in capturing diverse sets of inputs to help shape their thoughts around policy.”
Anjana Rajan, Assistant National Cyber Director for Technology Security at The White House and author of the ONCD report, emphasized the importance for national security.
“An attack on one American satellite company is an attack on the entire space ecosystem. And we must take a collaborative approach to defending the cybersecurity of this industry,” said Rajan during her keynote. “Cyber aggression from our adversaries puts those defending critical infrastructure in the persistent and untenable position of reacting…. The only way to outpace our adversaries in this context is to secure the building blocks of cyberspace.”
Participants provided both their technical and broader perspectives on how space system security challenges might be addressed and what could be done going forward. A few of the high-level takeaways included:
- Innovation Beyond Compliance: Participants agreed that the space industry must look beyond mere compliance and adopt innovative approaches to enhance security.
- Secure Foundations: Ensuring mission-critical applications are reliable and safe is paramount. Memory safety and harmonized cyber policies were discussed as part of this foundation.
- Private Sector Role: The private sector’s role in supporting national security through secure building practices was highlighted, with formal methods suggested to prove the absence of vulnerabilities.
- System Interdependencies: Understanding the context and interdependencies of systems is crucial for effective risk management and comprehensive security strategies.
Ultimately, both government and commercial sector participants agreed that modern cybersecurity challenges require a more holistic approach, and that collaboration among government, academia, and industry should be a key driver for innovation and security in the space sector.
This event further underscored the importance of being proactive in prioritizing space system security and the collective responsibility to fortify defenses against emerging cyber threats. As Mark Dankberg stated in his supporting comments of ONCD’s report:
“Addressing vulnerabilities across systems and infrastructure, and ensuring resilient and diverse connectivity options are vital to national security interests. Space adds an important layer to this diversity but, by its nature, faces a distinct set of security challenges. We strongly believe in public-private partnership and are excited to align with ONCD on creative security approaches that go beyond just standard controls and reporting requirements.”
Viasat is proud to have hosted an outstanding group of leaders for this cybersecurity discussion and we look forward to continuing this important work with our government and commercial partners.