‘ESPI Short Report’ Launch Event — “The War in Ukraine from a Space Cybersecurity Perspective”

21 November 2022 – 16h00 – 17h15

 ONLINE

On February 24th, 2022, Russia invaded Ukraine by launching a series of attacks against Kyiv as well as several cities located at the border of Russia and Belarus.  Concurrently, Russia conducted a cyberattack against ViaSat’s KA-SAT GEO satellite network, which was used by the Ukrainian army, thereby providing a concrete example of the use of cyber operations in complementarity with conventional military operations on land, sea, and air. In the space community, the KA-SAT cyberattack raised a broader debate regarding the cybersecurity of space systems and the protection of critical infrastructures.

The KA-SAT cyberattack can be considered as a good representative case of the state of cybersecurity in the space sector.

Outcomes of this report will be presented in an upcoming online event, followed by a moderated discussion and a Q&A session on lessons to learn from the KA-SAT case for the cybersecurity of the European space infrastructure, including the EU secure connectivity initiative.

Schedule:

16h00 – Welcome and presentation of ESPI Shorts

16h05 – Presentation of ESPI Short Report “The War in Ukraine from a Space Cybersecurity Perspective”

16h20 – Moderated discussion and Q&A session

• Nicolò Boschetti, PhD Student, Johns Hopkins University
• Christophe Grudler, Member of Parliament, European Parliament
• Bruno Vermeire, Global Chief Information Security Officer, RHEA Group

You can read the report here.

EVENT SPEAKERS

Nicolo Boschetti, PhD Student, Johns Hopkins University 

Nicolò Boschetti is pursuing a Ph.D. in Civil and System Engineering at the Johns Hopkins University and is an assistant researcher at the Aerospace ADVERSARY Lab at the JHU’s Whiting School of Engineering. He received his B.A. Degree in International and Diplomatic Sciences from the University of Bologna and his M.A. Degree in Politics and Economics of Eurasia from the Moscow State Institute of International Relations (MGIMO).  

His research focuses on the security of space systems, space cybersecurity, and the Russian space program and policy.  

He is a Space Generation Advisory Council Space and Cybersecurity Project Group member. He has published papers at AIAA’s Ascend, IAF’s International Astronautical Congress, and IEEE Milcom Conference. 

Christophe Grudler, Member of Parliament, European Parliament

Christophe GRUDLER is a French Member of the European Parliament (member of the Renew Europe group. 

Historian and journalist by training, his political commitment started at an early stage of his career. He is particularly involved at the local level in his hometown, Belfort, where he has been elected as a local representative several times. 

Within the European Parliament, MEP Grudler is Vice-Coordinator of the ITRE Committee (research and energy) for the Renew Europe group. He is also a member of the Foreign Affairs (AFET) and Security and Defence (SEDE) committees. 

MEP Grudler is particularly involved on energy and industry related topics, as well as on space and defence policies. He has been appointed as rapporteur for the European Parliament on the Initiative report on Energy System Integration and recently on the future European secure connectivity He is also shadow rapporteur for his group on the European Industrial Strategy, the revision of the Renewable Energy Directive RED), RepowerEU and on the European Space Programme. 

Furthermore, inside the European Parliament MEP Grudler is Vice President of the Sky & Space Intergroup and President of a focus group about the future of nuclear power in Europe. 

Bruno Vermeire, Global Chief Information Security Officer, RHEA Group

Bruno Vermeire is Global Chief Information Security Officer for RHEA Group, responsible for ensuring the application and compliance of RHEA’s information security-related processes across all the countries in which RHEA operates. He works closely with RHEA’s company officers, business managers and cybersecurity and IT teams to safeguard both RHEA and client data, reinforcing our position as a trusted business partner. 

Bruno joined RHEA in July 2022 as the latest step in a long and distinguished career in defence and security. Before joining RHEA, Bruno was Head of INFOSEC, the Belgian National Security Authority, for 11 years. During this time, he was Chair of the European Space Programme Security Accreditation Board, working closely with European Union (EU) Member States, the EU Agency for the Space Programme (EUSPA), the European Space Agency (ESA) and the European Commission (EC). He started his career in the Belgian military, undertaking many activities for the Belgian Ministry of Defence including security assessments and accreditation, forensic enquiries and roles on European and global organizational committees. 

Bruno has military qualifications in electronics, telecommunications and IT, and is fluent in Dutch, French, English and German.