Adventures in Cyber Space: An introduction to satellite cybersecurity｜HITCON PEACE 2022
Channel: HITCON
Date: 21/09/2022

Over the next decade, the number of satellites in orbit will increase by an order of magnitude. As thousands of new space missions launch, it is increasingly vital to defend them from cyber-attack. But where should we start, and how should we identify the most challenging and important problems in space security?

This talk will explore those questions. We’ll start with an introduction to the theory of digital counterspace and the role of cyber-attacks in space security. From there, we’ll build a simulated attack against critical space navigational data and see how deceptions in databases on earth can have meaningful consequences for systems in orbit. We will also explore some real-world offensive security research against long-range satellite communications, showing how inexpensive equipment can be used by adversaries to intercept deeply sensitive information from modern satellite broadband networks.

Based on these examples, we’ll identify key aspects of space cyber-security for security researchers to tackle. By the end of this presentation, members of the audience should have a sense of what remains to be solved for space security and how they can contribute. While this talk includes technical components, no prior knowledge of space systems security is required.