Derrick Henry
SpiderOak has secured a Small Business Innovation Research contract extension from the Space Development Agency to employ zero trust protection and ensure the cyber resilience and security of U.S. space missions.
The expanded agreement will showcase the integration of SpiderOak’s Platform protecting space systems with the U.S. Space Force’s identity and access management software, the company said Tuesday. The deal will help the SDA address the cybersecurity challenges faced by the Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture, a unified network of ground and space-based assets in low Earth orbit.
Advancing U.S. Space Operations’ Cyber Resilience
The additional SDA funding will support the seamless integration of advanced space protection technology with the USSF IDAM software to reduce operational costs and bolster mission resilience, according to Matthew Erickson, vice president of solutions at SpiderOak. “SpiderOak is excited to continue this collaboration with SDA to advance cyber resilience for space operations,” he added.
Implementing Zero Trust Principles
Under the deal, the software company will embed its cyber protection technology with the PWSA to implement zero trust principles, enabling the network to address vulnerabilities and ensuring it remains operational after a security breach. SpiderOak will also guarantee that network interactions are always authenticated, authorized and encrypted. In addition, the company will prevent unauthorized endpoint access, spoofing and data theft to minimize the effects of a network compromise.
By implementing zero trust concepts across the PWSA, the system can operate securely and readily accommodate existing Space Force systems to increase the chance of mission success.
