Red Balloon Security Joins the Advisory Panel of CyberLEO to Promote Security Solutions Across Commercial and U.S. Government Satellite Systems

Red Balloon Security, a leading provider of host-based firmware security solutions, announced that its CEO and founder, Dr. Ang Cui, has joined the advisory board of CyberLEO, a three-day conference launching May 11 that is focused on the urgent need to protect expanding satellite constellations from existing and evolving cybersecurity threats.

CyberLEO is a companion conference to CyberSatGov, and an important opportunity to bring together innovators, regulators, administrators, manufacturers and security experts in an effort to understand where space security is lacking, and how weaknesses can be mitigated.

In joining the advisory board, Dr. Cui will bring more than 10 years of research into satellite system security and a deep understanding of the adversary mindset that will help device manufacturers and operators better prepare for threats from malicious actors, whether they are state-sponsored, criminal gangs or independent. He will also be a panelist on the CyberLEO Ransomware Mitigation Response discussion on May 12, and will join other Red Balloon Security experts to conduct technology demonstrations onsite during the last two days of the conference.

Red Balloon Security’s Firmware Protection and Deep Satellite System Knowledge:

As a leading cybersecurity research and technology firm, Red Balloon Security has undertaken multiple investigations of satellite system devices, communications protocols and their security postures. The company has disclosed multiple vulnerabilities to device manufacturers and has worked closely with teams at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Air Force and Department of Defense to develop security hardening solutions across satellite systems.

For example, in 2020, Red Balloon Security designed “NyanSat” in partnership with the U.S. Defense Digital Service (DDS) and the Department of the Air Force. It was a three-part virtual satellite hacking workshop, one of four hosted by the Defense Digital Service and the Department of the Air Force, and took place in the Aerospace Village at the first-ever virtual DEF CON 28 Safe Mode in August 2020. NyanSat was an educational engagement meant to highlight potential threats to satellite systems by demonstrating the ease with which a satellite ground station could be constructed and potentially used to interfere with the normal operation of satellite systems.

“NyanSat was a means for Red Balloon to bring a more nuanced approach to cybersecurity planning into red vs. blue exercises, and to demonstrate how far we have to go in securing actual deployments,” says Dr. Cui. “We intend to bring our assembled knowledge and demonstrations of our firmware defense technology into the CyberLEO conversation, just as we did at NyanSat and other engagements in the last several years.”

About Red Balloon Security

Red Balloon Security (www.redballoonsecurity.com) is a leading cybersecurity provider and research firm that specializes in the protection of embedded devices across all industries. The company’s technology defends embedded systems with a suite of host-based firmware security solutions that provide continuous runtime protection of firmware and secure embedded systems against exploitation. Red Balloon Security’s pioneering R&D is led by a team of world-class academic researchers and developers who have published seminal research papers in the fields of embedded security and intrusion detection, led U.S. Department of Defense-funded research activities, ethically disclosed vulnerabilities within hundreds of millions of ubiquitous embedded devices and worked as embedded security researchers within various intelligence agencies.

About CyberSat Summits

CyberLEO and the flagship event, CyberSatGov, are forums in which government, military, commercial space equipment manufacturers and security experts can convene and share ideas and strategies for securing rapidly expanding satellite systems around the globe. It is estimated that 100,000 satellites may be in Earth’s orbit, which represents an enormous increase in the potential attack surface and a proliferation of opportunities for malicious actors to compromise services in the public and private sectors.

CyberSatGov and CyberLEO are the only events that focus on space cybersecurity and the necessity of understanding an emerging threat to the space industry at large. The conferences are open to cybersecurity experts, satellite service providers, business leaders, engineers and public servants who are focused on understanding emerging cyber threat vectors and mastering disruptive technologies that will shape the next generation of space deployments.