Towards an Interoperable Security Policy for Space-Based Internetworks
Title | Towards an Interoperable Security Policy for Space-Based Internetworks |
Publication Type | Conference Paper |
Year of Publication | 2021 |
Authors | Birrane, Edward J., Heiner, Sarah E. |
Conference Name | 2021 IEEE Space Computing Conference (SCC) |
Date Published | Aug. 2021 |
Publisher | IEEE |
ISBN Number | 978-1-6654-2400-4 |
Keywords | bundle protocol, bundle protocol security, Computer architecture, delay-tolerant networking, Industries, Internet, NASA, Network security, policy-based governance, Protocols, pubcrawl, security policies, Security Policies Analysis, space networking, Space vehicles, Syntactics |
Abstract | Renewed focus on spacecraft networking by government and private industry promises to establish interoperable communications infrastructures and enable distributed computing in multi-nodal systems. Planned near-Earth and cislunar missions by NASA and others evidence the start of building this networking vision. Working with space agencies, academia, and industry, NASA has developed a suite of communications protocols and algorithms collectively referred to as Delay-Tolerant Networking (DTN) to support an interoperable space network. Included in the DTN protocol suite is a security protocol - the Bundle Protocol Security Protocol - which provides the kind of delay-tolerant, transport-layer security needed for cislunar and deep-space trusted networking. We present an analysis of the lifecycle of security operations inherent in a space network with a focus on the DTN-enabled space networking paradigm. This analysis defines three security-related roles for spacecraft (Security Sources, verifiers, and acceptors) and associates a series of critical processing events with each of these roles. We then define the set of required and optional actions associated with these security events. Finally, we present a series of best practices associated with policy configurations that are unique to the space-network security problem. Framing space network security policy as a mapping of security actions to security events provides the details necessary for making trusted networks semantically interoperable. Finally, this method is flexible enough to allow for customization even while providing a unifying core set of mandatory security actions. |
URL | https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/9546287 |
DOI | 10.1109/SCC49971.2021.00016 |
Citation Key | birrane_towards_2021 |