Safety and Security Risk Mitigation in Satellite Missions via Attack-Fault-Defense Trees

Fuente: arXiv
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Auteurs principaux: Soltani, Reza, Diale, Pablo, Lopuhaä-Zwakenberg, Milan, Stoelinga, Mariëlle
Format: Preprint
Publié: 2025
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author Soltani, Reza
Diale, Pablo
Lopuhaä-Zwakenberg, Milan
Stoelinga, Mariëlle
author_facet Soltani, Reza
Diale, Pablo
Lopuhaä-Zwakenberg, Milan
Stoelinga, Mariëlle
contents Cyber-physical systems, such as self-driving cars or digitized electrical grids, often involve complex interactions between security, safety, and defense. Proper risk management strategies must account for these three critical domains and their interaction because the failure to address one domain can exacerbate risks in the others, leading to cascading effects that compromise the overall system resilience. This work presents a case study from Ascentio Technologies, a mission-critical system company in Argentina specializing in aerospace, where the interplay between safety, security, and defenses is critical for ensuring the resilience and reliability of their systems. The main focus will be on the Ground Segment for the satellite project currently developed by the company. Analyzing safety, security, and defense mechanisms together in the Ground Segment of a satellite project is crucial because these domains are deeply interconnected--for instance, a security breach could disable critical safety functions, or a safety failure could create opportunities for attackers to exploit vulnerabilities, amplifying the risks to the entire system. This paper showcases the application of the Attack-Fault-Defense Tree (AFDT) framework, which integrates attack trees, fault trees, and defense mechanisms into a unified model. AFDT provides an intuitive visual language that facilitates interdisciplinary collaboration, enabling experts from various fields to better assess system vulnerabilities and defenses. By applying AFDT to the Ground Segment of the satellite project, we demonstrate how qualitative analyses can be performed to identify weaknesses and enhance the overall system's security and safety. This case highlights the importance of jointly analyzing attacks, faults, and defenses to improve resilience in complex cyber-physical environments.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2504_00988
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Safety and Security Risk Mitigation in Satellite Missions via Attack-Fault-Defense Trees
Soltani, Reza
Diale, Pablo
Lopuhaä-Zwakenberg, Milan
Stoelinga, Mariëlle
Cryptography and Security
Computer Science and Game Theory
Cyber-physical systems, such as self-driving cars or digitized electrical grids, often involve complex interactions between security, safety, and defense. Proper risk management strategies must account for these three critical domains and their interaction because the failure to address one domain can exacerbate risks in the others, leading to cascading effects that compromise the overall system resilience. This work presents a case study from Ascentio Technologies, a mission-critical system company in Argentina specializing in aerospace, where the interplay between safety, security, and defenses is critical for ensuring the resilience and reliability of their systems. The main focus will be on the Ground Segment for the satellite project currently developed by the company. Analyzing safety, security, and defense mechanisms together in the Ground Segment of a satellite project is crucial because these domains are deeply interconnected--for instance, a security breach could disable critical safety functions, or a safety failure could create opportunities for attackers to exploit vulnerabilities, amplifying the risks to the entire system. This paper showcases the application of the Attack-Fault-Defense Tree (AFDT) framework, which integrates attack trees, fault trees, and defense mechanisms into a unified model. AFDT provides an intuitive visual language that facilitates interdisciplinary collaboration, enabling experts from various fields to better assess system vulnerabilities and defenses. By applying AFDT to the Ground Segment of the satellite project, we demonstrate how qualitative analyses can be performed to identify weaknesses and enhance the overall system's security and safety. This case highlights the importance of jointly analyzing attacks, faults, and defenses to improve resilience in complex cyber-physical environments.
title Safety and Security Risk Mitigation in Satellite Missions via Attack-Fault-Defense Trees
topic Cryptography and Security
Computer Science and Game Theory
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2504.00988