NIST rolls out cybersecurity profile that focuses on command and control of satellite buses, payloads

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) published a cybersecurity framework covering the ground segment of space operations with an emphasis on the command and control of satellite buses and payloads. The initiative will assist operators of the commercial ground segment of the space sector in delivering cybersecurity for their systems, and providing a means for stakeholders to assess their cybersecurity posture.

The document titled NIST IR 8401 ‘Satellite Ground Segment: Applying the Cybersecurity Framework to Assure Satellite Command and Control’ includes a ‘Satellite Ground Segment Cybersecurity Profile’ designed to be used as part of a risk management program to help organizations manage cybersecurity risks to systems, networks, and assets that comprise the ground segment of satellite operations. 

The profile provides guidance for classifying systems, processes, and components of satellite command, control, and payload systems in order to determine cybersecurity risk posture and address the residual risk in the management and control of the space segment. It also defines a desired cybersecurity state for the systems, processes, and components of satellite command, control, and payload systems, and establishes defined and repeatable risk management approaches to elevate an actual cybersecurity state to a desired cybersecurity state.

The profile will help organizations identify their systems and processes that enable command and control of space vehicle buses and payloads, and determine performance requirements. It will also identify known and anticipated threats to the satellite ground segment and supporting infrastructure, and protect the systems that the ground segment relies on for policy, training, resilience, and access control. 

Additionally, the profile will help detect a loss of ground segments’ confidentiality, integrity, or availability, respond to confidentiality breaches of Telemetry, Tracking, and Command (TT&C), and manipulation or loss of satellite commands or telemetry. It also assists with the recovery from anomalies in a timely, effective, and resilient manner.

NIST has been working towards providing the satellite command and control space with cybersecurity guidance. Last April, the agency released a draft document that applied the NIST Cybersecurity Framework to the ground segment of space operations with an emphasis on assuring satellite command and control. 

Space operations in the U.S. have become increasingly important to national and economic security, with the space cyber-ecosystem emerging as an inherently risky, high-cost, and often inaccessible environment made up of distinct, yet interdependent, segments. Commercial space’s contribution to the critical infrastructure is growing in both volume and diversity of services as illustrated by the increased use of commercial communications satellite (COMSAT) bandwidth, purchase of commercial imagery, and the hosting of government payloads on commercial satellites. 

The U.S. government recognizes and supports space resilience as showcased by the numerous space policies, executive orders, and the National Cyber Strategy. 

As the NIST cybersecurity profile is a flexible tool that an organization can use for its risk management effort, the framework is intended to augment, rather than replace, such efforts. The profile will also aid in the prioritization of cybersecurity activities based on business objectives and identify areas where standards, practices, and other guidance could help manage risks. The agency also encourages the development of organization-specific profiles by applying this profile to a particular mission or cyber-ecosystem. 

The NIST document takes into account that risk management is an ongoing process of identifying, assessing, and responding to risk as related to an organization’s mission objectives. To manage risk, organizations should understand any potential impact as well as the likelihood that an event will occur. An organization should also consider statutory and policy requirements that may influence or inform cybersecurity decisions. 

The profile also provides a flexible approach for stakeholders to manage risks when interfacing with the satellite bus or payload regardless of the source of the risk, including natural events, malicious actions, and human activities that have unintended consequences. It also provides a starting point from which organizations can customize their risk management approach. Furthermore, the profile is intended to be used in conjunction with existing risk management processes to provide additional risk management considerations. 

The document also references the NIST CSF that provides prioritized, flexible, risk-based, and voluntary guidance based on existing standards, guidelines, and practices to help organizations better understand, manage, and communicate cybersecurity risks. The CSF was intended to provide a means for stakeholders to assess their cybersecurity posture in terms of identification, protection, detection, response, and recovery operations and to derive a plan to elevate risk posture.

The Cybersecurity Framework consists of three main components. It includes the ‘Framework Core’ that provides a catalog of desired cybersecurity activities and outcomes using common language and guides organizations in managing and reducing their cybersecurity risks in a way that complements an organization’s existing cybersecurity and risk management processes.

It also covers the ‘Framework Implementation Tiers’ providing context for how an organization views cybersecurity risk management and helping organizations understand whether they have a functioning and repeatable cybersecurity risk management process and the extent to which cybersecurity risk management is integrated with broader organizational risk management decisions. 

Lastly, it also involves the ‘Framework Profiles’ that are customized to the outcomes of the Core to align with an organization’s requirements. Profiles are primarily used to identify and prioritize opportunities for improving cybersecurity at an organization.

In November, the National Cybersecurity Center of Excellence (NCCoE), a part of the NIST released a final annotated outline for the CSF profile for hybrid satellite networks (HSN). The cybersecurity profile intends to identify an approach to assess the cybersecurity posture of HSN that provide services such as satellite-based systems for communications, position, navigation and timing (PNT), remote sensing, weather monitoring, and imaging.

Anna Ribeiro

Industrial Cyber News Editor. Anna Ribeiro is a freelance journalist with over 14 years of experience in the areas of security, data storage, virtualization and IoT.