Satellite links are secure

Satellite links are as secure as terrestrial `broadcast circuits` using packet switching, says Roy Ingle, Regional Director, Africa, for satellite owner Europe*Star.

"All transmission links can be encrypted using robust algorithms, whether it is via satellite or terrestrial links. There is no need to prejudice satellite transmission on security grounds."

Ingle was responding to statements made earlier this week by Des Little, MD of Computer Pro, who warned that satellite communications were more prone than other communication media to intrusion or attacks.

"Both terrestrial and satellite systems can be accessed at a number of nodes in the transmission path. The Internet is particularly vulnerable as the structure is standard and well known, hence the problem with hacking.

"But it is only possible to access a satellite link at the transmit or receive node. Transmission paths are made secure by using various algorithms applied at the two ends of the transmission path. The transmission signal is encrypted with the intention that only the desired recipients can decrypt the signal."

Ingle stressed that the level of security depends on the quality of the products used.

Taking issue with the statement that as communications satellites are in orbit they are beyond reach for upgrades, he said this was "irrelevant in the context of security, given that almost all commercial satellites operate as `bent pipes` - if a data stream can be received `in the clear`, it`s because the satellite terminal at the other end is transmitting it that way.

"Don`t blame the satellite. What comes out at one end of the link merely reflects what`s put in at the other, much the same as with fibre optic or copper pairs."

This has always been the modus operandi of communications satellites, and this has not inhibited banks, financial markets, lotteries, military and security services from extensive use of commercial satellites.

Encryption and other security issues are best addressed near the end-points of a network, before the data leaves the customer`s premises, and standard security tools such as VPNs can also be deployed over satellite services.

Customers, with the assistance of their service providers, are best placed to evaluate the risks and take appropriate measures, and that applies regardless of whether their data is going into a hole in the ground or being sent into space.