Cybersecurity expands to outer space

When it comes to protecting the federal computer networks, or possibly engaging in cyberwarfare against enemy hackers, the government is now starting to look upward to the heavens and to NASA for help.

Vinton Cerf, the Google executive and Internet guru, said the future may lie in an "interplanetary Internet" to regulate data transmission among outer space devices. In an interview with Aliya Sternstein, reporter for Nextgov.com, Cerf said NASA tested interplanetary data transmission in space in November.

He said the space agency will do so again soon on the International Space Station. "This is moving ahead after a 10-year period of gestation," said Cerf. "So, for me, this is like a science fiction dream that's finally coming true."

For more on cyberspace:
- see this Nextgov.com article