Gregory Falco

Prof. Gregory Falco has been at the forefront of critical infrastructure and space system security in both industry and academia for the past decade. Falco is an Assistant Professor at Johns Hopkins University’s Institute for Assured Autonomy and the Civil and Systems Engineering Department. His research entitled Cybersecurity Principles for Space Systems was highly influential in establishing Executive Order: Space Policy Directive-5, which shared the same title. He has been listed in Forbes 30 Under 30 for his inventions and contributions to critical infrastructure cyber security, is a Fulbright Scholar and is the recipient of DARPA’s Young Faculty Award for work on building the “cloud” for space systems. Prof. Falco serves as a member of the Department of Homeland Security’s Space Systems Critical Infrastructure Working Group and has been awarded contracts relating to space system security for AFRL, US Space Force, NASA and DARPA. He is also a Research Affiliate at MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory. Falco completed his PhD at MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, Master’s degree at Columbia University and a Bachelor’s degree at Cornell University.

Education History

• Masters of Science, Sustainability Management, Columbia University
• Ph.D, Cybersecurity, Urban Science, and Infrastructure Management, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Work Experience

Assistant Professor, Johns Hopkins University

Publications

*Selected Space Peer Reviewed Publications
Falco, G. “When Satellites Attack: Satellite-to-Satellite Cyber Attack, Defense and Resilience”. In Proceedings of AIAA’s ASCEND Conference. 2020. https://arc.aiaa.org/doi/abs/10.2514/6.2020-4014
Falco, G. “Cybersecurity Principles for Space Systems”. AIAA Journal of Information Systems. 2018. http://arc.aiaa.org/doi/abs/10.2514/1.I010693
Falco G. “The Vacuum of Space Cyber Security”, Proceedings of the 2018 AIAA SPACE and Astronautics Forum and Exposition, (AIAA 2018-5275) https://doi.org/10.2514/6.2018-5275
Falco, G. (2018). Harvard Belfer Center’s Cybersecurity Project. Job One for Space Force: Space Asset Cybersecurity. Retrieved from https://www.belfercenter.org/sites/default/files/files/publication/CSP%20Falco%20Space%20Asset%20-%20FINAL.pdf
Falco, Gregory; Rosenbach, Eric. Cyber Risk Management. Oxford University Press. (Forthcoming 2021).
Falco, G., et. al. “Cyber risk research impeded by disciplinary barriers”. Science. 2019. DOI: 10.1126/science.aaz4975

Honors and Awards

• DARPA RISER (2022)
• DARPA Young Faculty Award (2022)
• Fulbright Scholar (2021)
• Forbes 30 Under 30 (2018)
• Harvard Science, Technology and Public Policy Fellowship (2017)

Professional Organizations

American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers