Cyber incidents are on an extreme rise – but laws to address them are still lacking

Cyber incidents are on an extreme rise – but laws to address them are still lacking

Washington, Sept. 12, 2021

An audit conducted by NASA’s Office of Inspector General found that the agency experienced 1,785 cybersecurity incidents in 2020. The amount of data stored on orbiting satellites is growing, but adequate laws and regulations to protect it are still lacking.

Essential systems such as „communications, aviation, maritime commerce, financial services, weather monitoring, and defense“ all rely on satellite infrastructure; therefore, an attack could cause massive disruption.

NASA has more than 3,000 websites and 42,000 publicly available data sets. The audit found that NASA has had over 6,000 cybersecurity incidents in the last four years.

The Outer Space Treaty (1967) is the only law limiting conflict in space, but it primarily includes laws and regulations for weapons of mass destruction, not cyber warfare.