Advanced Framework for Securing Satellite Imagery in Computationally Constrained-Environments

Abstract

Ensuring the security of satellite imagery has become increasingly critical with the growing disposition of Small Earth Observation Satellites, heightened by an evolving landscape of security issues. The satellite images often contain sensitive information, such as data essential for national safety or critical structure monitoring, highlighting the urgent need for effective protection mechanisms. However, the resource-constrained nature of these satellites – designed to deliver cost-effective and scalable data collection solutions – poses significant challenges in providing robust and efficient security solutions. The contribution of this paper is threefold. We address these challenges by first introducing a security model that semantically and formally specifies the security requirements for satellite imagery, considering both the sensitivity of the data and the operational constraints of the system. Then, we introduce a secure encryption protocol that ranks image security needs based on their classification and importance. The proposed protocol leverages two lightweight encryption algorithms we design, specifically to balance robust protection with optimized computational effectiveness, ensuring applicability to resource-constrained environments. The efficiency of our protection approach is validated through an extensive set of experiments, demonstrating its ability to meet the unique demands of satellite operations while maintaining cryptographic security standards.