DEF CON 33 - Moonlight Defender : Purple Teaming in Space! - Ben Hawkins
Source: YouTube · DEFCONConference · published Oct 10, 2025 · 20:47
The Moonlight Defender exercise addresses the critical gap in cyber training for Space Force operators by providing realistic cyber-space integrated scenarios 1:06.
Key Takeaways:
• The exercise uses a "purple team" approach with both red (attackers) and blue (defenders) teams training together on space systems 2:41
• Moonlight Defender 1 utilized an actual satellite (Moonlighter cubesat) in orbit, providing unique realism for cyber training 1:52
• The training aligns with Space Force requirements and certifications to ensure practical skill development 3:17
• Moonlight Defender 2 incorporated industrial control systems (ICSOT) to address critical infrastructure vulnerabilities 11:36
• The exercise framework is designed to be low-cost, scalable, and modular using existing resources and open-source software 19:11
This integrated cyber-space training approach fills a critical capability gap while using realistic scenarios that prepare Space Force operators for actual threats 18:21.
Sources:
- 1:06 Explaining the gap in cyber training for Space Force operators
- 1:52 Introduction to Moonlighter satellite and the first exercise
- 2:41 Explaining the purple team approach
- 3:17 Alignment with Space Force training requirements
- 11:36 Incorporation of ICSOT in the second exercise
- 18:21(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NHvvrhFU6X
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First 800 characters of the transcript
Heat. [Applause] [Music] Figured I'd start off with a cool video, you know. There we go. So, um, my name is Ben Hawkins. I'm a senior research engineer with uh aerospace corporation and I'm here to talk about how my team uh and I are trying to get after problems that exist in space force as far as uh operator training development and then uh accurate um cyber exercises. Um at the moment they focus heavily on space of course the space force but um cyber is often left out and it creates a huge gap when you're talking about training cyber operators to defend these things. And so if a red team comes in and they're making effects in an exercise and then nothing's in par nothing's uh integrated in the range on the space side um you can see how that's not realistic at all. So these space operator…