After a delightful Christmas break, Space Technology Scotland in partnership with Napier University and its Cyber Academy is delighted to announce Cyber-Space – A space sector and cyber security mash-up event.

This cross-industry event will be a mash-up between the Scottish Space Sector and experts in cyber security. Our aim is to explore the huge potential for collaboration, skills and knowledge exchange, and possible new business opportunities for the start of a new decade.

Napier University work with government agencies, industry and law enforcement (amongst others) on cutting edge cyber-security issues. Their expertise is exemplified with their BEng (Hons) in cybersecurity and forensics becoming the first undergraduate course in the UK to be fully certified by the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), whose parent organisation is GCHQ. We could not have a better host for this event.

Why come along?

In 2014 the US weather satellite network suffered an electronic attack, forcing cyber security teams to seal off data vital to disaster planning, aviation, shipping and scores of other crucial uses. The attack resulted in an ‘unscheduled maintenance’ of the United States National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)’s data feed for weather forecasts. Much of the world’s critical national infrastructure is now heavily reliant on space technology, and the upward trend of this dependency will continue. https://www.chathamhouse.org/expert/comment/intersection-space-and-cyber-security-growing-concern#

The future of space is increasingly commercial. Scotland is positioned to take advantage of this with its upstream (satellite manufacturing, launch capability, etc) and downstream (data processing, analytics, etc). Whole mission design and delivery could be accomplished here. The above link highlights that ‘each and every stakeholder, from satellite assembly through to data exploitation, via the space-based segment, needs to know his or her respective cyber security responsibilities in delivering assured space-based services’.

Services derived by satellite data will be a chain of systems: e.g. Cube sat components; telemetry, tracking, and control (TT&C) communications links (for the satellites); ground stations; data processing; end user delivery & usage; etc are all susceptible to attack. http://interactive.satellitetoday.com/via/november-2019/the-growing-risk-of-a-major-satellite-cyber-attack/ This gets more interesting with the advent of ground stations as a service become more prevalent.

question: “how would you hack a satellite (satellite based service)”?

A vision of the future for Scotland’s space community – cubesats being built and launched from Scotland to provide data services to downstream companies.

• How do we do that as securely as possible?
• What are we good at now?
• Are we considering cyber security? Could we collaborate across the supply chain?

Host:

Terry McLarney – CEO (Co. – Founder) Envisage Spacre

Vassilis Manoussos – Edinburgh Napier University

Speakers:

Andrew Paliwoda – CEO Responsive Access

Eamonn Keene – Head of Cyber Security and Innovation

Ian Lowe – Head of Consulting – Quorum Cyber

Stevie Revill – CEO Co-Founder of UrbanTide

Guest:

– Napier University Computer Science Department