Visible to the public Towards an Interoperable Security Policy for Space-Based Internetworks

TitleTowards an Interoperable Security Policy for Space-Based Internetworks
Publication TypeConference Paper
Year of Publication2021
AuthorsBirrane, Edward J., Heiner, Sarah E.
Conference Name2021 IEEE Space Computing Conference (SCC)
Date PublishedAug. 2021
PublisherIEEE
ISBN Number978-1-6654-2400-4
Keywordsbundle 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.

URLhttps://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/9546287
DOI10.1109/SCC49971.2021.00016
Citation Keybirrane_towards_2021