Miles Jamison
SpiderOak was awarded a Small Business Innovation Research contract by the Space Development Agency to provide a High-Assurance Internet Protocol Encryptor, or HAIPE, with zero trust microsegmentation across SDA’s Network Established Beyond the Upper Limits of the Atmosphere, or NEBULA, on-orbit networks.
The software company said Tuesday the HAIPE will be integrated into the Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture, marking the first orbital implementation of zero trust principles, including decentralized authentication and edge-based policy enforcement.
Securing Communications at the Tactical Edge
SpiderOak partnered with RTX business Collins Aerospace to utilize its Apollo crypto module as the high-assurance encryption component. The secure programmable Apollo module uses flexible encryption functions to safeguard sensitive data, enabling warfighters and guardians to safely retrieve data and use applications at the tactical edge, while maintaining speed, agility and security.
Strategic Partnership Boosts Space Cybersecurity
Integrating Apollo with SpiderOak’s microsegmentation and zero trust software stack allows mission system providers to embed advanced cybersecurity measures without extra hardware. This facilitates fine-grained segmentation of data flows, continuous trust validation and swift containment of hostile activities, safeguarding the integrity of space-based networks even during attacks.
“We are pleased to collaborate with Collins Aerospace to deliver a combined solution for advanced architectures enabling the Department of War to realize their goal of zero trust adoption even across mission architectures requiring high assurance and availability operating in space or at the tactical edge,” said SpiderOak CEO Kip Gering.
