Space Booby Traps: Hacking Back and Assured Cyber Deterrence in Space

Abstract

Critical infrastructure is becoming increasingly reliant on satellite services, yielding space systems as prime targets for adversaries. Space cyber defenses must be implemented to enable mission resilience. Hacking back (also called active defense) is an effective mechanism to defend digital systems but difficult to implement with attribution and escalation challenges. We propose a hackback architecture that engages a cyber booby trap facilitating autonomous, active defense against adversaries on space vehicles. The cyber booby trap ensures that only the attacker is impacted and imparts a proportionate response to a cyberattack.