Cyber Threats, Zero Trust and the Bane of Security

Our essential services and applications, be they commercial or military, are increasingly dependent on integrated satellite and terrestrial networks. Until recently, satellite networks have been, by and large, stand-alone in design. Increasingly, however, satellite networks are integrated with terrestrial networks, creating an expanded communications network…and an expanded threat surface. Brigadier General Gregory J. Touhill, President of Cyxtera Technologies’ Cyxtera Federal Group (CFG), explains that satellite networks have become systems of systems…including design, manufacture, launch, payload management and terrestrial integration. Each step has to be “secured by design.” He discusses some of the pitfalls to cyber security such as longer satellite supply chains along with approaches to minimizing cyber threats, including software defined perimeters, ID-centric security measures, the Zero Trust model.