To my children,
If a crayon-eating Marine can get published writing a book about hacking computers in outer space, you can accomplish anything.
As a cybersecurity professional, the more I learn about space systems, the more I realize how underprepared the space industry is against cybersecurity threats and how unaware the cybersecurity industry is of the space domain in general. I wrote this book to provide a primer on space systems and the concepts of space vehicle operations to cybersecurity practitioners. The environmental and operational challenges and constraints faced by space systems are considerable. The threats and vectors by which those threats will affect space systems are imposed or created by these challenges and constraints. After reading this book, cybersecurity professionals will have the building blocks of knowledge necessary to develop and implement solutions to space system issues which not only improve the resiliency and security of those systems but allow them or enable them to conduct their mission. I also provide macro- and microanalysis of compromise scenarios involving space systems to drive home the very real and present risk to such systems via the cyber domain. Though written from the perspective of and for the primary audience of the cybersecurity industry, space domain operators, designers, and developers can surely benefit from understanding the threats, vectors, and issues that cyber brings with it. This is especially relevant given the interconnectivity and continued digitization and software definition of space system components.
I would like to thank my beautiful wife and family for putting up with this and other nerdy endeavors.
To Dr. Al Bosse who performed the technical review for this book and has been a font of knowledge about space and space vehicle operations, this book would not be possible without you.
To all you keyboard-wielding cyber warriors out there protecting freedom, I salute you.
spent over seven years in the US Marines originally involved in satellite communications and later was one of the founding members in the operational arm of the Marine Corps Forces Cyberspace Command. After his enlistment, he wrote and taught an advanced computer operations course, eventually returning back to mission support. He left government contracting to do threat emulation and red teaming at a private company for commercial clients, serving as the principal penetration tester and director of penetration testing and cyber operations. He is currently working as a cybersecurity subject matter expert for a government customer, advising on cybersecurity integration and strategy. He completed his doctorate in IT at Towson University, researching and developing offensive cybersecurity methods, and is the author ofProfessional Red Teaming: Conducting Successful Cybersecurity Engagements (Apress, 2019) as well asWaging Cyber War: Technical Challenges and Operational Constraints (Apress, 2019).
is a practicing spacecraft engineer, currently serving as chief engineer for electro-optical and infrared space vehicles for a government customer. He has over 28 years of experience applying his expertise in aerospace vehicle structures, structural dynamics, guidance, navigation and control, and systems engineering for the advancement of tactical intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance capabilities within the U.S. Department of Defense. His notable past positions include Spacecraft Control Systems Branch Head at the Naval Research Laboratory (2001–2005), Associate Professor of Aerospace Engineering at the University of Cincinnati (2005–2008), Technical Director of the Missile Defense Agency Interceptor Knowledge Center (2009–2017), and Chief Scientist of the Missile Defense Agency Ground-Based Midcourse Defense Program (2019). The organizations he previously served include the Naval Research Laboratory, Swales Aerospace, Draper Laboratory, and the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Lab.
Dr. Bosse earned M.S. and Ph.D. in aerospace engineering from the University of Cincinnati in 1991 and 1993, respectively, as well as a B.S. in physics from Thomas More University in 1987.