We don’t think about satellites when we watch live sports or entertainment from all over the world. But maybe we should. Space technologies have been used for many years to conduct live broadcasts worldwide. And the time when a narrow circle of government organizations used space technologies is long gone. Today, the commercial satellite industry is doing much more, delivering high-speed Internet and making it possible to obtain the most recent satellite images of objects on the Earth’s surface. In addition, anyone can get access to satellite image for different purposes.
Today, satellite technologies are used in many industries and are transforming them, allowing them to improve the performance of many tasks. Satellite view of the Earth makes it possible to observe events in hard-to-reach places, and modern analytics enable us to see what is not available to the human eye.
The mobile network, IoT devices, power providers and many other industries rely on satellites to keep their systems running. In connection with this fact, the damage to the satellite sector can bring losses to other areas. Satellites in many organizations are a large part of the extended cyber ecosystem. However, these organizations rarely control cybersecurity directly.
Types of Cybersecurity Risks and Threats in the Satellite Sector
Satellites bring many benefits and help to obtain unique information, including real-time satellite imagery to assess current events, but it does not protect them from hackers. Solving threat problems is tricky as there is no warning, and the attack speed can be high. Difficulties are also related to the possibilities of proportional response. Types of attacks on space systems include orbital, electronic and kinetic threats. They can occur in space, communication channels and on the ground.
Satellites are attractive targets for attackers because technologies on Earth control them and pose unique cybersecurity challenges. They give attackers an enormous scope for potential hacking, while tracking a virtual attack is complicated by many entry points.
One of the main problems is the transmission of uplinks and downlinks through open security protocols to communicate with stations on the planet’s surface. By interrupting the satellite signal, cyberattackers can also access downstream systems. Potential points of hacking are also satellite-based IoT devices.
Cybercriminals can attack both large military satellites and small commercial satellites that help us to get up-to-date satellite images. Companies and organizations applying space technologies may see cybersecurity as a lower priority, as it is expensive and often requires custom solutions based on the requirements of each system.
It is important to note that satellite systems have vulnerabilities because humans are still developing their software. Supporting terrestrial patching systems is complex, and patching orbital systems is even more difficult. Space systems will always have vulnerabilities as devices in orbit and on Earth must be linked to transmit data, but these difficulties can be mitigated.
Cybersecurity in Space Technology Industry: Key Features
Fortunately, technology has evolved not only in the direction of obtaining real-time satellite view and improving the quality of images. Innovative technologies that have appeared with satellite communications development help ensure safety. It is necessary to protect the devices themselves and secure every stage of data transfer.
The network security infrastructure allows data to be authenticated before leaving Earth. In case of danger and the inability to authenticate the signal, the satellite will ignore it. Such a system protects data at all stages of moving through the connected ecosystem.
The main challenges for ground defence are budget and knowledge. It is essential to study threats and develop cyber technologies that match the parameters of the satellite, including size and power. It is necessary to apply past developments, changing them to implement security, since only a few such solutions can be deployed on board.
Government and commercial organizations need to invest in developing and building better security solutions that will work within the range of the device and provide a timely response to threats.
Role and Functions of EOSDA Landviewer in the Space Industry
EOS Data Analytics has been a provider of satellite imagery analytics to multiple industries since 2015 and provides software solutions for precision farming and forestry. In the beginning of 2023, the company also launched the first unit of the EOS SAT satellite constellation, which will also benefit agriculture. The company applies advanced technologies and the benefits of modern analytics in its solutions and products, also using AI technologies to work with geospatial data.
The company has also developed the EOSDA Landviewer GIS tool, which provides a rich set of features for working with various types of imagery, including current satellite imagery. Users can access many historical and up-to-date images of our planet from different sources. Thus, it is possible to detect changes and observe how they have passed over time, analyse and detect essential patterns and factors influencing events on the surface of our planet.
Thanks to the split view feature, users can compare images of the same area at different times or from different satellites to better understand and track the dynamics of changes. For example, you can compare live satellite views and historical images in this way. Users can process images on the fly and calculate over ten different spectral indices. Also, various combinations of channels are available for certain types of data that need to be extracted from images.
EOSDA LandViewer can be integrated with third-party GIS software. It will expand the user’s ability to extract data and provide a complete cycle of processing geodata and solving business problems, using historical and recent satellite images.