Defense News - On December 18, TrustPoint, a pioneering startup focused on developing an advanced global navigation satellite system, revealed its strategic choice of SpiderOak to furnish cybersecurity solutions for its forthcoming network.
Headquartered in Dulles, Virginia, TrustPoint envisions deploying a constellation of compact satellites designed to provide cutting-edge positioning, navigation, and timing (PNT) services catering to both commercial and national security applications.
Chris DeMay, the Founder and Chief Operating Officer of TrustPoint, emphasized the selection of SpiderOak OrbitSecure software as a critical measure for ensuring "cybersecurity, mission resilience, and data reliability." Notably, TrustPoint employs a "zero-trust" architecture, where default distrust is placed in network users, necessitating special keys for access to encrypted data. OrbitSecure leverages blockchain technology for data transactions, ensuring each modification on the ledger is meticulously time-stamped and authenticated.
The comprehensive application of the OrbitSecure software spans across the space, ground, and user segments within TrustPoint operations. The company plans to initiate the provision of PNT services over the next few years as it progressively builds out its satellite constellation. In 2023, TrustPoint initiated its technology showcase by launching two micro-satellites. Target clients encompass the U.S. government and various commercial industries, particularly those in emerging sectors such as drone delivery, self-driving cars, urban air mobility, and augmented reality.
Under the agreement, TrustPoint will leverage the forthcoming OrbitSecure 2.0 release, slated for 2025, to bolster protection for PNT signals. SpiderOak highlighted the inclusion of a "proprietary authentication system" in this release aimed at countering spoofing—a deliberate act of transmitting false navigation satellite signals to mislead receivers about their position, navigation, or timing.
Charles Beames, Executive Chairman of SpiderOak, underscored TrustPoint as the vanguard among the new generation of commercial satellite constellations recognizing the value of delivering a comprehensive, software-only cybersecurity service. Beames emphasized that the OrbitSecure software stack secures customers data by rendering it inaccessible without cryptographic keys, employing a distributed ledger to protect each data record independently on any network.
In addressing evolving threats, Beames noted, "We always assume all networks have been or will be compromised by the most highly evolved threats." By safeguarding data at the record level, OrbitSecure provides assurance to customers that their data is secure, with its origin and integrity duly verified.
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