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US Space Industry to Launch Cybersecurity Portal
Spring 2020 will see the launch of a new US cybersecurity resource designed to protect the space industry.
Space News reported last Thursday that the Space Information Sharing and Analysis Center, or Space ISAC, is currently in the process of setting up an unclassified portal where companies can share and analyze information on cybersecurity threats. The portal will go live in the tail end of spring.
The activation of the portal will mark the official start of operations for Space ISAC, which was formally established in April 2019 as a nonprofit organization during a classified session at the 35th Space Symposium in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
The need to establish a Space ISAC to secure commercial, government, and military space communications from cyber-attacks on global space assets was recognized by the Science & Technology Partnership Forum in 2017. The Forum shared its vision for the organization’s conception in April 2018 at the 34th Space Symposium.
Space ISAC was founded initially by Kratos Defense & Security Solutions. Ten other companies have since joined as founding members, though some wish to keep their connection with the organization under wraps. Firms that have made their membership of Space ISAC public include Booz Allen Hamilton, SES, Parsons Corp, Lockheed Martin, and MITRE, which all joined as founding members.
The senior vice president of Kratos and chairman of the board for Space ISAC, Frank Backes, said that once the new portal is in operation, Space ISAC will work to recruit and vet potential members. The organization is hoping to sign up as many as 200 member companies from the civil, commercial, and national security space sectors.
Annual membership fees will be $10,000 for silver membership, $25,000 for gold, and $50,000 for platinum; however, the organization will consider offering lower rates to small enterprises and startups.
Along with the portal, Backes said that Space ISAC intends to set up a "space systems vulnerability laboratory" for NCC analysts and ISAC members at the National Cybersecurity Center (NCC) in Colorado Springs.
Space ISAC plans to hold its first ever summit meeting at the NCC's Cyber Symposium in Denver on June 15 and 16 of this year. Source: Information Security Magazine