A leading embedded security technology provider and research firm announces its commitment to working across disciplines in public and private sectors in the effort to secure space technology
Red Balloon Security, a leading provider of host-based firmware security solutions, announced that its CEO and founder, Dr. Ang Cui, has joined the advisory board of CyberLEO, a three-day conference launching May 11 that is focused on the urgent need to protect expanding satellite constellations from existing and evolving cybersecurity threats.
CyberLEO is a companion conference to CyberSatGov, and an important opportunity to bring together innovators, regulators, administrators, manufacturers and security experts in an effort to understand where space security is lacking, and how weaknesses can be mitigated.
In joining the advisory board, Dr. Cui will bring more than 10 years of research into satellite system security and a deep understanding of the adversary mindset that will help device manufacturers and operators better prepare for threats from malicious actors, whether they are state-sponsored, criminal gangs or independent. He will also be a panelist on the CyberLEO Ransomware Mitigation Response discussion on May 12, and will join other Red Balloon Security experts to conduct technology demonstrations onsite during the last two days of the conference.
Red Balloon Security’s Firmware Protection and Deep Satellite System Knowledge:
As a leading cybersecurity research and technology firm, Red Balloon Security has undertaken multiple investigations of satellite system devices, communications protocols and their security postures. The company has disclosed multiple vulnerabilities to device manufacturers and has worked closely with teams at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Air Force and Department of Defense to develop security hardening solutions across satellite systems.
For example, in 2020, Red Balloon Security designed “NyanSat” in partnership with the U.S. Defense Digital Service (DDS) and the Department of the Air Force. It was a three-part virtual satellite hacking workshop, one of four hosted by the Defense Digital Service and the Department of the Air Force, and took place in the Aerospace Village at the first-ever virtual DEF CON 28 Safe Mode in August 2020. NyanSat was an educational engagement meant to highlight potential threats to satellite systems by demonstrating the ease with which a satellite ground station could be constructed and potentially used to interfere with the normal operation of satellite systems.
“NyanSat was a means for Red Balloon to bring a more nuanced approach to cybersecurity planning into red vs. blue exercises, and to demonstrate how far we have to go in securing actual deployments,” says Dr. Cui. “We intend to bring our assembled knowledge and demonstrations of our firmware defense technology into the CyberLEO conversation, just as we did at NyanSat and other engagements in the last several years.”
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