"How 'Zero-Trust' Could Enable Safe Data Exchange in Space"

Gregory Falco, an assistant professor at the Johns Hopkins Institute for Assured Autonomy and the Whiting School of Engineering's Department of Civil and Systems Engineering, explains why there needs to be a new system for satellites in order to enable secure communication. Falco is working on securing exchanges of data and services across space systems, which are increasingly used by countries and businesses for business and communication. Falco received a Young Faculty Award from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) last summer for his work on a zero-trust space service marketplace idea in which software continuously monitors and secures data exchanges. A zero-trust space marketplace enables companies in the field of space-based services and data to interact securely and engage in transactions across space systems. Currently, space systems made by one company cannot easily communicate with those manufactured by another. When two systems communicate, it is only between trusted parties, typically systems from the same manufacturer. With various providers creating space systems today, the inability to engage in a trustworthy manner is a missed opportunity for all parties concerned. According to Falco, this is why there must be a marketplace through which any party can receive or send data and services securely. Such a marketplace must be zero-trust, meaning that exchanges are continuously checked by software, and there is no implicit trust between the parties involved in the exchange. This article continues to discuss Falco's work on safeguarding exchanges of data and services across space systems and the concept of a zero-trust space service marketplace.

Johns Hopkins University reports "How 'Zero-Trust' Could Enable Safe Data Exchange in Space"