Paris, 31 December 2020. – The cybersecurity company Cysec has been contracted by the Swiss Space office to mitigate the cyber risks of in-orbit reconfigurations of small satellites.
The Lausanne-based company partners with HEPIA, the Geneva University of Applied Sciences and Arts, to develop a new security architecture that will facilitate secure, reliable in-orbit reconfiguration of small satellites, Cysec said.
“With more than 1000 small satellites launching as part of constellations every year, each collecting and transmitting valuable data, cybersecurity can no longer be ignored,” Cysec said. “Indeed, one can imagine a scenario in which an attacker manages to upload and execute malicious software on board, thus taking complete control of the satellite. Hacking an in-orbit satellite presents a new threat to satellite operators and manufacturers, as historically space engineers have prioritized building reliable systems often at the expense of security.”