Geoscience Australia is seeking high level, expert advice on critical security concerns for space-based and terrestrial positioning infrastructure.

The agency has released a request for information (RFI) to inform the development of an operational cybersecurity strategy for the rollout and deployment of its national positioning infrastructure.

Following a $161 million budget award to fund the development of an augmentation system to enhance the precision of GNSS signals, the RFI indicates clear progress on the project to expand the technologies used in the SBAS testbed trials nationally.

The request comes after widely publicised GPS jamming affected aviation and NATO military exercises in late 2018.

A diagram of augmentation technologies in the Australian SBAS trial. Image provided by Geoscience Australia.

A spokesperson for Geoscience Australia said that the RFI may assist in identifying possible cyber security threats to the overall SBAS architecture, as well as potential mitigation strategies.

“Geoscience Australia does not currently possess the expertise required to support cybersecurity mitigation within the context of safety-of-life system development. The RFI aims to provide Geoscience Australia with more information to inform a potential future procurement process,” she said.

The spokesperson said that the RFI will not be used to formally shortlist suppliers for future procurement, and that the cybersecurity strategy will not impact on future tendering processes for the system.

“SBAS will support and be critical for many Australian industries over the coming decades. Given its importance, its protection against cybersecurity threats is front of mind for Geoscience Australia as we build this significant piece of national infrastructure,” she said.

You can view and contribute to the full request for information until February 13.

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