Satellite Internet Security Issues
The customer base for satellite Internet access is expanding quickly in both the consumer and the enterprise areas. This expansion can be credited to the decrease in cost for satellite bandwidth, as well as the fact that the market is moving past the early adoption stage.
With this growth comes an increase in satellite internet security concerns. There are many unique problems associated with satellite Internet access that require special attention and new solutions. One of the primary concerns is that traditional encryption simply wont work.
Satellite Internet Security: Encryption
Data packets sent via satellite internet have a long way to travel. From the time a packet is sent, acknowledged, and returned the information has made a 45000 mile round trip. This of course happens very quickly by human standards, but to a computer this takes a long time. In fact, since Transmission Control Protocol Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) requires an answer to sent packets within a set time frame, it takes too long. After a certain amount of time between sending and receiving packets, TCP/IP begins to restrict bandwidth, and can cause up to 75% reduction in throughput. This of course is unacceptable to any user or provider.
One solution to this problem is called TCP Acceleration. This type of protocol, also called Transparent TCP Acceleration, uses compression and packet management to speed up deliver and reception of information sent via satellite internet connections, and decreases the latency in a manner that prevents TCP/IP from adversely affecting the bandwidth.
A process called “pre-fetching” is also used to increase download speeds. Pre-fetching, also called Pipeline Cache works by separating inline objects such as graphics and the HTML code of the site being requested. Once separated the inline objects are requested first, giving them more time to load. This accelerates the loading of a web page, and if many objects are involved and not n the user's cache a significant speed increase can be had.
This in itself in not a problem, however TCP Acceleration only works using clean packets, meaning encrypted data cannot be accelerated. If not corrected using other means, this would cause the data sent from the users dish to the provider's hub to be accessible by anyone who could intercept the transmission. A security hole this big would make privacy spotty at best, and online finance management foolish in the extreme.
The most used solution encrypts the data at the user, transmits it too a hub, decrypts the data, accelerates it, and then transmits the packets to the satellite. This adds to the hardware costs as well as slows down the possible connection speeds, but it is vital to the security of the connection. This solution also can maintain a TCP/IP connection. Although the technology gets the job done, it also makes VPN and other networks with additional security protocols sluggish.
The Future Of Satellite Internet Security
Satellite providers are currently working on encryption standards that function with their acceleration technology, but this is problematic due to encryption regulations and accepted standards. Several firms are also working to improve the pre-fetching process to the point that it totally offsets the latency caused from encryption, but it is unlikely this will be a long term solution.
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