economic information service | satellite internet is “running fast” and security is urgently needed to “keep up”
2024-09-08
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satellite internet is experiencing unprecedented development opportunities, but the security challenges associated with it are also escalating. industry experts call for preparing for a rainy day and building satellite internet's native security capabilities as soon as possible to build a strong security firewall for satellite internet.
industrial layout is accelerating
since the beginning of this year, my country has significantly accelerated its development in the field of satellite internet. from satellite launches to product releases, to international cooperation and industrial chain layout, my country has demonstrated a comprehensive and in-depth layout in the construction of satellite internet.
on august 6, the first batch of networking satellites of the "thousand sails constellation" were successfully launched into orbit with "18 satellites in one rocket", marking an important step for my country to build a global satellite internet. it is understood that the "thousand sails constellation", also known as the "g60 starlink", is one of the low-orbit satellite internet constellation plans being built in my country, which will provide low-latency, high-speed, and high-reliability satellite internet services to global users. the project is led by songjiang district, shanghai, and jointly built by a number of capitals. the main implementing body of the project is shanghai yuanxin satellite technology co., ltd. according to the plan, this project will launch 108 satellites this year, and will build a satellite networking system of more than 10,000 satellites in the future.
previously, satellite internet high-orbit satellites 01 and 02 had successfully entered the scheduled orbits on february 29 and august 1, respectively; and smart skynet-1 01 had also been successfully launched on may 9. smart skynet will provide personalized broadband network services with global coverage without blind spots, and together with low-orbit satellite internet and high-orbit satellite internet, build a unified space-earth 6g network.
in addition to the network speed increase, satellite internet operators will also provide more consumer-grade satellite internet products to the market. in february this year, china satcom announced that it would provide consumer-grade satellite internet products to the market and launched aviation satellite internet product data packages with united airlines, allowing passengers on board to conveniently purchase satellite internet data packages through the internet, improving the network experience in the air.
beijing, shanghai and many other places have also accelerated the layout of the satellite internet industry chain. in the internet industrial park in the startup area of xiongan new area, the china satellite network group headquarters project and china telecom smart city industrial park project have accelerated construction, focusing on the research and application of new generation internet technologies, which will provide important support for xiongan new area to build a digital city, gather aerospace information and satellite internet industries. in june this year, the satellite internet industrial park in fengtai district, beijing was officially opened to promote the development of the commercial aerospace industry. at the conference on deepening the construction of the science and technology innovation ecosystem of the g60 science and technology innovation corridor in the yangtze river delta held in shanghai in may, the "action plan for promoting the high-quality development of the satellite internet industry cluster in the g60 science and technology innovation corridor in the yangtze river delta" was released.
international cooperation on satellite internet is also accelerating. in april this year, china's low-orbit broadband satellite internet was successfully launched in thailand. through cooperation with thailand's mahankol university of technology, the application of low-orbit satellite internet in thailand was verified, demonstrating china's leading strength in the field of low-orbit satellite technology.
opportunities and challenges coexist
in 2020, my country included satellite internet in the scope of new infrastructure for the first time, and satellite internet construction has risen to a national strategic project. according to incomplete statistics, the total number of satellites reported by many chinese companies to the international telecommunication union (itu) has exceeded 50,000.
in the industry's view, there is a real demand for satellite internet: at present, traditional terrestrial mobile communication services only cover less than 6% of the earth's surface area, while satellite internet can cover the world and supplement the network in remote areas and oceans, and has outstanding advantages in specific scenarios such as emergency communications, public safety, and marine scientific research. at the same time, the prospects for satellite internet technology are promising: satellite-ground integration is one of the pillars of 6g technology, and satellite internet can help 6g communications achieve a global seamless coverage of the air, space, land, and sea integrated network. in the future, big data, cloud computing, edge computing, etc. will be inseparable from satellite internet. therefore, satellite internet will form a huge industrial ecology in the future. on the one hand, it can drive multiple commercial aerospace links such as satellite manufacturing, ground services, and satellite operations with huge demand. on the other hand, it is expected to accelerate the technological innovation and market development of related application fields such as mobile terminals, autonomous driving, disaster prevention and mitigation, and the internet of things.
it is worth noting that satellite internet has now been applied to a wide range of scenarios such as intelligent driving, space-ground measurement and control, and the internet of things. however, it comes with a variety of potential threats including signal interference and blocking, supply chain attacks, and cryptographic security attacks.
the company that undertook the security planning of the "thousand sails constellation" project is asiainfo security. it is reported that asiainfo security also made a strategic investment in yuanxin satellite at the beginning of this year. asiainfo security ceo ma hongjun introduced that the main security threats facing satellite internet involve communication link security, ground system security, satellite and payload security, supply chain security and user terminal security. among them, the three major security domains of communication link, ground system and supply chain are the main attack targets facing satellite internet at present. in addition to being able to launch direct attacks on ground infrastructure such as ground stations, satellite communication links and supply chains, attackers can also indirectly attack satellites and their payloads and user terminals. for example, hackers directly attack links, which eventually leads to navigation failures of aircraft and ships.
building native security capabilities
industry experts pointed out that due to the high commercial and even military value of satellite internet, the security challenges associated with it are also escalating. hackers, inter-state competition and other malicious threats will pose a continuous risk to satellite systems. in order to cope with these risks, it is necessary to study a broader and deeper satellite internet security assessment mechanism, build attack and defense training ranges and hold attack and defense competitions to help identify and resolve possible vulnerabilities in satellite systems, test new security technologies and protection methods, improve satellite internet security emergency response capabilities, and further enhance satellite internet security protection capabilities.
in order to deal with space cybersecurity threats, the united states, the european union, japan and other countries and regions have intensively released strategic documents in recent years, issued a series of laws and policies, and promoted the standardization of commercial satellite security management systems. industry experts call on my country to speed up the introduction of satellite internet security policies and regulations, build commercial satellite network security standards and evaluation systems, promote the integrated development and technological upgrading of aerospace and cybersecurity, and actively carry out international cooperation in global space information networks.
many domestic digital security companies are also exploring ways to address satellite internet security challenges. asiainfo security, which exclusively won the bid for the security project of shanghai yuanxin satellite technology co., ltd., has created a three-year plan for the yuanxin information security system to protect the "thousand sails constellation", and has built a security protection system with active defense, in-depth defense, and dynamic defense.
according to asiainfo security, satellite internet should be integrated with security from the design stage, and network security standards should be explicitly built into the product from the beginning. for example, designing and integrating zero-trust systems can make the system more resilient. although network security companies are able to upload software after satellite and flight computers are developed, or even deploy them when spacecraft are in orbit, risks of late deployment may arise. compared with ground systems, if a software update goes wrong in orbit, it cannot be physically corrected.
asiainfo security satellite internet experts suggest that satellite internet security needs to build a multi-layer security defense line from the space segment, link segment to the ground segment to build a satellite internet hierarchical security defense system as a whole. first, the first line of defense should include basic network security measures such as intrusion detection, log monitoring, software encryption, patch management, firewalls, endpoint security, signal jammers and two-factor verification; second, consider grading, such as using micro-isolation methods to divide the boundaries into smaller areas, ensure different access rights for different parts, and use containerized services to strengthen defense to ensure that even if the system is compromised, each process remains secure; third, introduce zero-trust data-level encryption solutions.
in addition, the network risks of the satellite internet supply chain should also be taken seriously. problems in any link of the satellite internet supply chain security may lead to satellite internet risks. asiainfo security also recommends building a satellite internet situational awareness platform. the platform has multiple functions, including real-time monitoring of satellite operating status, management of satellite data, situation analysis, assessment of potential risks, information security, assistance in space traffic management, optimization of resource allocation, provision of user interaction interface, rapid response to emergencies, and support for policy compliance. through these functions, the platform can help users effectively manage satellite internet and ensure the security, stability and efficient operation of the network.
relevant research reports show that china's satellite internet security market is expected to increase by 7 billion yuan from 2024 to 2027. "building native security for satellite internet and running through the entire life cycle of satellites is one of the important prerequisites for the popularization and development of satellite internet," said ma hongjun. (reporter wu wei)
editor: yu lu
