IU builds on leadership in cybersecurity to protect critical space infrastructure
As our world becomes increasingly digital, our reliance on satellites is at an all-time high. We depend on satellites to complete everyday tasks like getting directions and checking the weather. And recent events, like the war in Ukraine, have illustrated a serious need for increased space cybersecurity to ensure both national security and economic prosperity.
Indiana University faculty are building on decades of leadership in cybersecurity to inform policy that protects critical space infrastructure and to train the first generation of space cybersecurity experts.
Scott Shackelford, executive director of the Center for Applied Cybersecurity Research and the Ostrom Workshop and Provost Professor of Business Law and Ethics at the Kelley School of Business,said:
As Americans and consumers, we would notice if ransomware attacks crippled vital satellites very quickly,
“That is why the rules being set now are really important. We’re looking at issues of security but also governance. If we can bend trend lines in a direction that is more equitable and multi-stakeholder, that can pay dividends for many years down the road.”
To identify solutions to this emerging need, Shackelford and colleagues are pursuing transformative research and offering unique educational experiences only available at Indiana University.
IU’s Ostrom Workshop — which brings together scholars and practitioners from around the world to tackle society’s most pressing challenges — first turned its focus to space in 2020. While initial efforts were centered on mitigating space debris, their work quickly expanded to governance in outer space. That led to the formation of the IU Space Governance Lab, which obtained external funding to lead research projects on space governance, security and law, each bringing together several researchers and research assistants. The lab also offers courses, has a working group of nearly 350 collaborators and hosts an online speaker series that features senior space professionals and practitioners from around the world.
Eytan Tepper, director of the IU Space Governance Lab and research professor of space governance and security,said:
We launched the IU Space Governance Lab in a time of extraordinary growth in space activities, notably those of the private sector, alongside a fast militarization of space, which became a warfighting domain,
“While most universities still viewed space governance as an esoteric subject, IU seized the moment and is increasingly acknowledged as a leader in the field.”
The Ostrom Workshop and the IU Space Governance Lab launched the first Space Cybersecurity Digital Badge Program at the Kelley School of Business in 2023 in collaboration with Microsoft, the National Science Foundation and the U.S. Air Force to help meet the emerging need for more professionals trained in space cybersecurity. By the end of the 10-week course, students can develop and implement an organization-wide policy focused on space cybersecurity. Since its inception, the program has welcomed over 40 participants, including IU and Ivy Tech students, along with U.S. Space Force personnel and more.
Students who complete the Space Cybersecurity Digital Badge Program can earn credit toward IU’s Master of Science in Cybersecurity Risk Management program. This is the first in the nation to bring together three top-ranked schools — the Luddy School of Informatics, Computing and Engineering, the Kelley School, and the Maurer School of Law — to provide students with technology, business and law viewpoints on cybersecurity. IU aims to add a space cybersecurity track to that degree in the near future, which would be the first of its kind.
Tepper said:
The war in Ukraine, dubbed ‘the first space-cyber war,’ exposed the vulnerability of our critical space infrastructure to cyberattacks,
“But while space organizations are now aware of the cyberthreats to their space assets, there were hardly any training programs to build a space cybersecurity workforce to address the grave risks. This pioneering program aims to meet the national need while providing its participants with a lucrative and meaningful career path.”
IU students will gain hands-on operational experiences with improving cybersecurity in space as part of IU’s recent membership to the Space Information Sharing and Analysis Center, the premier public-private forum for discussing space cybersecurity and developing best practices for mitigating cyberattacks. Students can engage in fellowships and mentorship opportunities, and IU faculty and staff can join the Space ISAC’s numerous working groups.
In March, Shackelford, Tepper and others from across IU and around the nation will gather in Washington, D.C., to kickstart a new project focused on developing a theory of space-cyber power, working to understand how the United States can accumulate, project and leverage space-cyber power for its defense and to maintain and increase its influence. Leading cybersecurity and space researchers, practitioners and policymakers will come together to build the foundation for a new U.S. strategy for the 21st century. Ultimately, the project will result in a report that would lay an integrated theory of space-cyber power.
Shackelford said:
We have to act with urgency to both address the technical debt of vulnerable space-based infrastructure that’s currently in orbit, and also not make the problem worse by securing the next generation of satellites,
“Cybersecurity is becoming central to a safe and sustainable final frontier, and IU is a key player in this global effort.”
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IU builds on leadership in cybersecurity to protect critical space infrastructure, source
