From orbit to outback: Space, cyber threats, and the race to secure our future

From monitoring drought conditions and managing farmland, to delivering broadband in the outback and keeping planes safely in the sky, space technology touches almost every part of modern life. But with that increased reliance comes growing risk.

Imagine your smartphone being hacked. Now imagine that same vulnerability in a satellite that supports emergency services, helps planes land, or powers remote health clinics.

The risks aren’t just technical, they’re personal, and increasingly possible. Almost every week brings a new report of cyber hacking that affects millions of users or customers, and the threat continues to evolve.

Unfortunately, many of our current systems still rely on conventional cybersecurity tools such as firewalls and encryption, which are no longer enough on their own. Modern cyber attackers are agile, well-resourced, and increasingly use artificial intelligence to find new ways in.

That’s why cyber protection for space systems needs to be more than an afterthought. It needs to be part of the design from the very beginning.

Learning from experience

During my time at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, we saw first-hand the importance of building cyber resilience into the foundation of a mission. That means designing space systems that can continue operating even while under threat – systems that don’t just resist attacks, but adapt and recover from them.

At JPL, we helped develop AI-powered tools that monitor spacecraft in real time. These tools help detect suspicious behaviour early and allow systems to respond quickly, isolating problems and reconfiguring as needed. It’s one way we can make space assets more resilient in a world of fast-evolving threats.

These ideas aren’t exclusive to NASA or the US. They can, and should, be part of how Australia thinks about its space future.

Why it matters

In 2022, the KA-SAT satellite network over Europe was targeted by a destructive cyber attack at the onset of the war in Ukraine. It disrupted satellite communications across large parts of Europe, including remote monitoring systems, and even wind farms in Germany.

NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA) have both faced a rise in phishing, spoofing, and telemetry probing attacks, as commercial and scientific missions become more publicly visible – and more valuable targets.

Read more: FraudGPT and other malicious AIs are the new frontier of online threats. What can we do?

These incidents show that attacks on space assets are not theoretical. They’re happening now, and they affect real people – whether it’s farmers, pilots, emergency responders, or everyday users relying on GPS and weather data.

If GPS positioning systems are jammed or spoofed, planes, transport or logistics could be thrown off course. If a weather satellite goes offline, farmers lose crucial forecasts.

Making space systems more secure isn't just about protecting technology. It’s about ensuring that the services we rely on – often without even realising – continue to work when we need them most.

Focus on the future

Cyber threats will keep evolving. But so can we.

With thoughtful investment, collaboration across sectors, and a strong focus on training the next generation of engineers and security professionals, Australia can help shape a space future that is not only ambitious, but also secure and dependable.

This requires making cybersecurity a part of every design decision for every critical system, from architecture development through initial design, test and deployment.

It also means developing AI-driven tools to monitor, detect and respond to the ever-evolving threat.

Monash not only brings deep technical capabilities to cybersecurity for Australia, but in partnership with the University of Oxford's Global Cyber Security Capacity Centre, Monash is assessing cybersecurity maturity across Pacific nations, including Samoa and Tonga.

This initiative aims to bolster national cybersecurity infrastructures, which are crucial for the security of space systems.

Our world is increasingly interconnected, reliant on space systems, and under constant threat.

The innovation and foresight of researchers at Monash and across Australia will ensure our future cyber world can be secure and resilient, but must be done across academia, government, industry and our international partners.

With this consolidated effort, we will stay ahead of the threat and provide a reliable set of capabilities for our citizens and partner nations that we all can depend on.