Logo
ScienceStack
Table of Contents
Fetching ...
Sign In

Securing Satellite Link Segment: A Secure-by-Component Design

Olfa Ben Yahia, William Ferguson, Sumit Chakravarty, Nesrine Benchoubane, Gunes Karabulut Kurt, Gürkan Gür, Gregory Falco

TL;DR

Two Earth observation missions are examined: one utilizing a single low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite and another through a network of LEO satellites, employing a secure-by-component design strategy, employing a secure-by-component design strategy.

Abstract

The rapid evolution of communication technologies, compounded by recent geopolitical events such as the Viasat cyberattack in February 2022, has highlighted the urgent need for fast and reliable satellite missions for military and civil security operations. Consequently, this paper examines two Earth observation (EO) missions: one utilizing a single low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite and another through a network of LEO satellites, employing a secure-by-component design strategy. This approach begins by defining the scope of technical security engineering, decomposing the system into components and data flows, and enumerating attack surfaces. Then it proceeds by identifying threats to low-level components, applying secure-by-design principles, redesigning components into secure blocks in alignment with the Space Attack Research & Tactic Analysis (SPARTA) framework, and crafting shall statements to refactor the system design, with a particular focus on improving the security of the link segment.

Securing Satellite Link Segment: A Secure-by-Component Design

TL;DR

Two Earth observation missions are examined: one utilizing a single low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite and another through a network of LEO satellites, employing a secure-by-component design strategy, employing a secure-by-component design strategy.

Abstract

The rapid evolution of communication technologies, compounded by recent geopolitical events such as the Viasat cyberattack in February 2022, has highlighted the urgent need for fast and reliable satellite missions for military and civil security operations. Consequently, this paper examines two Earth observation (EO) missions: one utilizing a single low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite and another through a network of LEO satellites, employing a secure-by-component design strategy. This approach begins by defining the scope of technical security engineering, decomposing the system into components and data flows, and enumerating attack surfaces. Then it proceeds by identifying threats to low-level components, applying secure-by-design principles, redesigning components into secure blocks in alignment with the Space Attack Research & Tactic Analysis (SPARTA) framework, and crafting shall statements to refactor the system design, with a particular focus on improving the security of the link segment.

Paper Structure

This paper contains 21 sections, 4 figures, 3 tables.

Table of Contents

  1. Introduction
  2. Earth Observation Use Cases
  3. EO through a Single LEO Satellite
  4. EO through a LEO Satellite Network
  5. Security Challenges and Proposed Approach
  6. Potential Vulnerabilities in Optical Links
  7. Secure-by-Component Approach
  8. Decomposition of In-Scope Components and Data Flows
  9. EO through a Single LEO Satellite
  10. EO through a LEO Satellite Network
  11. Attack Surfaces and Techniques
  12. EO through a Single LEO Satellite
  13. Ground-to-Space Trust - [SPARTA Attack Technique: IA-0009 Trusted Relationship]
  14. Image Acquisition Process - [SPARTA Attack Technique: IA-0009 Trusted Relationship]
  15. Image Storage - [SPARTA Attack Technique: IA-0006 Compromise Hosted Payload]
  16. ...and 6 more sections

Figures (4)

  • Figure 1: EO through a single LEO satellite.
  • Figure 2: EO through a LEO satellite network.
  • Figure 3: Secure-by-component design strategy.
  • Figure 4: Decomposition of the systems for each use case: (a) Decomposition of the EO through a single LEO satellite; (b) Decomposition of the EO through a LEO satellite network.