The Space Information Sharing and Analysis Center (ISAC) and the National Cybersecurity Center (NCC) announced that Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) has joined the Space ISAC as the newest founding member.
Lockheed Martin joins Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ: KTOS), Booz Allen Hamilton (NYSE: BAH), MITRE, and SES as a founding member. Clark VanBuskirk, Vice President of Advance Program Development for Lockheed Martin Space Mission Solutions, will serve on the Space ISAC board of directors.
The Space ISAC is the only space-dedicated ISAC and is made possible through the investment by its board and founding members. Lockheed Martin will contribute expertise managing space supply chain risk, threat intelligence across multiple domains and true end-to-end space-based cyber solutions, which serve a variety of customers and missions, to the Space ISAC.
ISACs are sector-specific, member-driven organizations stood up by the commercial sector with support from the federal government to collect, analyze, and disseminate cyber and physical security threats and risk mitigation information to critical infrastructure owners, operators, and members to increase resiliency.
The Space ISAC is the only space-dedicated ISAC and is made possible through the investment by its board and founding members. Lockheed Martin will contribute expertise managing space supply chain risk, threat intelligence across multiple domains and true end-to-end space-based cyber solutions, which serve a variety of customers and missions, to the Space ISAC.
NCC is recognized as a leader in cybersecurity and brings together leaders from across the globe at its annual Cyber Symposium. Together, NCC and the Space ISAC serve cyber influencers from the commercial sector, academia, government, and military and empower people to secure commercial, international, and military space communications from attacks on our global space assets. They are jointly building a research and development capability, cybersecurity training curriculum, and an analysis portal. With the addition of the Space ISAC, NCC is offering training on secure GPS and hosts a dialogue on the importance of international and commercial satellites on military communication at the annual Cyber Symposium.
The initial founders of Space ISAC serve as board members. Each board member has a role in fulfilling the mission of the ISAC: to facilitate collaboration across the global space industry to enhance our ability to prepare for and respond to vulnerabilities, incidents, and threats; to disseminate timely and actionable information among member firms; and to serve as the primary communications channel for the sector with respect to this information.
Lockheed Martin Space creates technologies that power exploration, connectivity, and security from space. Major programs include GPS III and secure communications, human and robotic exploration of deep space, strategic deterrence and missile defense, weather and remote sensing, and commercial communications. Space is a key enabler that must be protected end-to-end — that’s why Lockheed Martin recently rolled out a new way to evaluate how hardened space systems are using the Cyber Resiliency Level model.
Erin Miller, VP of Operations for Space ISAC at the National Cybersecurity Center, said the Space ISAC builds on a legacy of government-industry threat sharing, including Lockheed Martin’s participation as a founding member of the Defense ISAC. Focusing on the unique challenges in space is a logical next step for a company that has extensive experience building many of the satellites and ground systems our nation counts on.
Clark VanBuskirk, VP for Advanced Program Development for Lockheed Martin Space Mission Solutions, added that software now defines the bulk of mission-critical capabilities and it’s under constant attack. The U.S.’s ability to track, defend, and fight adversaries increasingly depends on how well we can field the best secure software and hardware. The Space ISAC builds on Lockheed Martin’s legacy of partnership with government on cybersecurity, which is increasingly important with new commercial and international space operators; it’s vital we work together to defend a strategic domain for our national security.”
The need for a Space ISAC was conceived by the Science & Technology Partnership Forum in 2017 in response to recognized information-sharing gaps within the cybersecurity and space community. The Forum’s goal was to enhance the community’s ability to prepare for and respond to vulnerabilities, incidents, and threats; disseminate timely information; and serve as the primary communications channel for the sector with respect to this information. The Forum shared this vision at the 34th Space Symposium in April 2018. In April 2019, the Space ISAC was announced during a classified session at the 35th Space Symposium in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
White House National Security Council Spokesman Garrett Marquis said of the Space ISAC’s formation that this Administration strongly supports the formation of private-sector driven information sharing and analysis centers. The new Space ISAC aims to help gather, analyze, and disseminate critical cyber threat information related to space among the Federal, commercial, and international community and advances the 2018 National Cyber Strategy’s priority to enhance space cybersecurity.”
The White House’s National Cyber Strategy, published September 23, 2018, states that “the Administration will enhance efforts to protect our space assets and support infrastructure from evolving cyber threats,” while working “with industry and international partners to strengthen the cyber resilience of existing and future space systems.” Locating the Space ISAC at the NCC means Space ISAC members will have access to Colorado’s space and cybersecurity ecosystems within the commercial and defense sectors and to the talents of the premier higher education institutions developing cybersecurity engineers.
To facilitate the Space ISAC’s origination and organization as the founding member, Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc., coordinated the organizational planning and federal government charter, funded the ISAC startup costs, and developed the operational plan for the Space ISAC.
NCC is a member-driven national community of cyber influencers from government, academia, industry, and military conceived in 2016 and located in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The NCC provides cybersecurity leadership, services, training, and policy advisement and awareness for public officials, business executives, and the workforce. NCC’s support to the Space ISAC will create a public-private alliance to serve the commercial sector, academia, government, and military and empower people to secure commercial, international, and military space communications from attacks on our global space assets. NCC also leads a collaborative effort to use blockchain technology to develop a secure mobile voting app and offering blockchain training.
National Cybersecurity Center CEO Vance Brown reported that this intersection of space and cybersecurity represents a unique public-private partnership at the tip of the spear and is in perfect alignment with NCC’s vision to secure the world. The greatest threat to the nation's space assets is cyber interference. The NCC is uniquely qualified to facilitate the mitigation of cyber risks.