The Defense Digital Service and the U.S. Space Force have decided to virtually conduct an already-planned satellite hacking competition.
Space Security Challenge 2020: Hack-A-Sat will commence virtually in a qualification event scheduled for May 22 to 24, USSF said Wednesday. The decision to conduct the event virtually stems from the DEF CON hacking convention's cancellation. The event got canceled due to COVID-19 restrictions.
Qualifying participants will advance to the finale in August where they will attempt to reverse-engineer satellite systems and get past planted software codes. USSF, the U.S. Air Force, DDS and DEF CON are working to jointly promote aerospace cybersecurity amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
"Being part of the DEF CON community and learning from its experts to pinpoint vulnerabilities before they’re exposed in battle will keep our troops safer,” said Will Roper, assistant secretary of the Air Force for acquisition, technology and logistics.
