Cybersecurity (Cyber Threats & Protection) News

Bloomberg

Orbital data centers promise solar power but could become high-value targets

Proposals to move data centers into orbit seek access to abundant solar energy and room to expand, including for military operations. But concentrating computing infrastructure in space could expose it to missile attacks, jamming and cyberattacks, raising questions about the security and resilience of the concept.

eVTOL Insights

High activity

U.S. expands drone research and counter-drone investment, from FAA testing to $729 million Raytheon awards

The FAA awarded $12 million to 19 companies for research and testing intended to safely expand drone operations in the national airspace. Separately, Raytheon received $729 million in counter-drone awards for the U.S., Qatar and Jordan, while other initiatives span autonomous interceptors, airport vehicle-collision prevention and the Pentagon’s Drone Dominance program.

Bloomberg

Germany arrests two Turkish citizens suspected of setting fire to Polish Starlink station

German authorities detained two Turkish citizens suspected of setting fire last month to a Starlink station in Poland, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said. The site was described as important to Ukraine, and Tusk characterized the blaze as a suspected act of hybrid warfare; Polish authorities have pointed to Russia, though the allegations remain under investigation.

Reuters

High activity

121 lawmakers seek worker-data protections in Google’s $10 million Spirit Airlines data deal

More than 120 U.S. lawmakers are urging limits on the worker information Google could acquire in a court-supervised sale of Spirit Airlines’ internal data, intended to train AI systems. A hearing on the sale is scheduled for Oct. 14; the proposed transaction is valued at $10 million.

Via Satellite

CyberSat marks 10 years of aviation and space cybersecurity discussions

A retrospective of CyberSat traces a decade of events, from a hacking demonstration to disclosures of critical threats. The cluster offers a view of how cybersecurity risks affecting aerospace systems have surfaced and evolved through the conference’s defining moments.

Via Satellite

Space cybersecurity shifts from obscurity to whole-of-system defense

Cyber experts describe how space cybersecurity has moved into the mainstream over the past decade, evolving from an assumption that systems were protected by obscurity to a broader, whole-of-system approach. The discussion tracks a change in how the sector considers security across interconnected space systems.

SpaceNews.com

Eight years of satellite hacking research highlights commercial spacecraft cybersecurity risks

Researchers say they have spent eight years probing satellite systems and recently demonstrated that a commercial satellite could be compromised in orbit. The finding is part of a broader body of work aimed at showing the space industry where cybersecurity weaknesses may threaten spacecraft and mission operations.

Bloomberg

High activity

U.S. Space Force and industry advance military, sovereign satellite communications and in-space ISR capabilities

The Space Force selected Northrop Grumman and True Anomaly to build “space-to-space” ISR satellites by 2028, while L3Harris secured a $461.9 million executive-aircraft satcom contract. Separately, Nokia and ICEYE are developing sovereign low-Earth-orbit communications systems for governments, defense contractors and emergency services.