A Review of Emerging Cybersecurity Threats and Challenges in Satellite Communication Systems

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@article{1722480,
      author = {Ibrahim Mustapha, Laura Yusuf-Ufua, Usman Salisu Argungu},
      title = {A Review of Emerging Cybersecurity Threats and Challenges in Satellite Communication Systems},
      journal = {Iconic Research And Engineering Journals},
      year = {2026},
      volume = {10},
      number = {2},
      pages = {2460-2469},
      issn = {2456-8880},
      url = {https://www.irejournals.com/formatedpaper/1722480.pdf},
      abstract = {Satellite technology has evolved in modern development and deployment of various payloads to rely on the integration of existing terrestrial communication architecture. An almost secured industry to the use of proprietary off-the shelf software and onboard systems is now exposed to cyber threats that terrestrial communication network architectures struggle to deal with.  This paper carried a holistic review of literatures that have investigated the causalities of cyber threats in cyber space in modern satellite systems. The general consensus identified by the literatures investigated attributed these challenges to the integration of space technology with traditional terrestrial communication networks. This has led to the inheritance of cyber challenges associated with terrestrial communication networks. The paper further identified some cyber threats that are presently affecting space communication architecture. Amongst others are, network spoofing, traffic jamming, Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS), API exploitation, Eavesdropping etc. Furthermore, the paper examined potential emerging threats to satellite communication architectures such as AI prompts to investigate and exploit vulnerabilities. The paper concluded by proposing emerging solutions to space communication architecture.},
      keywords = {cybersecurity, threat landscape, and satellite communication systems},
      month = {August},
      doi = {https://doi.org/10.64388/IREV10I2-1722480}
  }