Spaceflight missions at JPL are supported on the ground by large, complex cyber systems with hundreds of interconnected components. To keep these systems secure and reliable, cyber system operators and analysts need to continuously monitor vulnerabilities and anomalous events in these systems.
However, it is challenging for them to see and track anomalies in the vast amounts of data they collect.
In collaboration with the Cyber Defense Engineering group, we created a prototype for a web-based system that makes these very large amounts of data humanly interpretable and actionable.
Constellation uses real data collected by Zabbix, a monitoring agent, running on operational mission systems, totalling 8GB of data time series and event data spanning 10 days of activity. The data is distilled into visual and interactive components that provide an overview and detailed information for JPL’s cyber systems experts to monitor, inspect and relay critical information.