When Cyber Meets the Spectrum

Event: BSides Delaware 2025
Date: November 15, 2025
Speaker: Norris Cornell

Abstract

Critical infrastructure increasingly depends on timing and RF signals that many cybersecurity programs do not directly model, validate, or monitor. This presentation examines how satellite, signal-layer, and application-trust assumptions intersect across cyber-physical systems.

Learn how SIGINT, ICS, and Application Security converge in the invisible domain we depend on — and what defenders need to do differently.

Key Topics

• Satellite communications in critical infrastructure
• Signal-layer trust failures and detection
• SIGINT and RF security considerations
• Convergence of SCADA/OT and satellite dependencies
• Practical defense strategies

Research Connection

This talk synthesizes research from:

• M.S. Thesis: “Satellite Cybersecurity Vulnerabilities and Risk Mitigation Strategies” (2022)
• Published Whitepaper: Satellite Cybersecurity: When Cyber Meets the Spectrum
• Inputs Lie Series: Part 1–4 framework on signal-layer trust failures

Slides & Materials

Download Slides (PPTX)

Event details: BSides Delaware

For a deeper dive into signal-layer security, see the published research papers at cornellsecurity.com/research