Summit Panelists on Incentive Structure for Cybersecurity in Satellite Industry

Panelists at CyberSat 2019 said the satellite industry faces misaligned market incentives when it comes to cybersecurity, Via Satellite reported Friday.

Andrew D’Uva, president of communications satellite services firm Providence Access, said the satellite sector’s incentive framework does not often remunerate investments in cybersecurity.

“The biggest threat, in my mind, to cybersecurity in commercial space systems is capitalism. … Capitalism values efficiency above everything else,” D’Uva said. He noted that most satellite companies look at cybersecurity as “a bolt on, add in kind of a thing.”

Mari Spina, principal cybersecurity engineer and cloud security capability leader at Mitre, said satellite firms should consider placing their security stack in the cloud and mentioned how the Defense Information Systems Agency’s Secure Cloud Computing Architecture could offer protection to such companies.

Spina added the satellite industry should ensure security and maintain visibility into its supply chain.