AI-generated summary
The integration of on-board computers has revolutionized the design and operation of rockets, ships, satellites, and space probes. These computers have replaced older automation systems, enabling more sophisticated, intelligent control systems capable of handling complex tasks and even autonomously resolving issues. This advancement, driven by miniaturization technologies, has greatly enhanced the capabilities and reliability of space and maritime vehicles.
However, this progress also introduces significant cybersecurity risks. As noted by expert Ram Levi, cyberattacks targeting these systems are becoming increasingly sophisticated, motivated by both financial and political goals. The interconnected nature of space operations, which rely on computer-based ground stations and standard commercial devices to reduce costs, creates vulnerabilities. Even with strong cybersecurity protocols, if the supply chain is insecure, the entire system remains at risk. Securing supply chains requires different strategies than protecting internal company systems, highlighting a critical area that must not be overlooked in efforts to safeguard space technologies.
The balance between leveraging advanced computing for greater operational intelligence and managing the heightened cyber vulnerabilities underscores the complexity of modern space and defense technology. As the saying goes, “If you can dream it, you can do it”—yet in the digital realm, this also means “If you can dream it, you can hack it,” emphasizing the need for robust cybersecurity measures.
Space is an interconnected environment where cybersecurity is a key element for its development.
On-board computers are a substantial change that has occurred in the design of rockets, ships, satellites, space probes and their control systems. The cybersecurity and they control everything instead of the more or less sophisticated automatisms of yesteryear; it has a lot to do, in fact, with the miniaturization that Esther Dyson was talking about.
And this is both an advantage and a disadvantage. An advantage because it allows us to design rockets, ships, satellites, space probes and control systems that are increasingly sophisticated and “intelligent”, increasingly capable of doing more things and often of getting out of trouble almost by themselves thanks to increasingly sophisticated programs.
But as Ram Levi reminded us, it is also a problem because it opens all these systems to a possible cyberattack. According to Levi, cyberattacks are becoming much more sophisticated not only with a monetary objective but sometimes with a political objective. And that can also propagate into space because space, by definition, is global, it’s interconnected. And everyone sees the advantages it has. But it is controlled by computers, you cannot launch and operate a satellite without a computer based on a ground station. And this presents vulnerabilities, because we have to use standard commercial devices to be able to reduce costs. So, no matter how hard a company tries to maintain robust and adequate cybersecurity protocols if its supply chain is not secure, then all its effort will be in vain. And securing a supply chain is totally different from securing the company’s systems; it is something that must be kept in mind.
As Walt Disney said, “If you can dream it, you can do it.” Hackers say “If you can dream it, you can hack it.”
CEO y Cofundador en Konfidas