Adversary Hardening Tiers
The arms race has structure. Map it.
Purpose
ASTRA techniques do not apply uniformly. A $200 toy drone and a military UAS with encrypted links and GPS authentication present fundamentally different attack surfaces. Hardening tiers map target sophistication to technique viability.
Assessed during Phase B (Identification) and Phase F (pre-engagement intelligence). Feeds Phase D (Decision), filtering technique categories to only those viable against the assessed level.
Tier 0 — COTS Unmodified
Factory-default configuration. No security hardening applied.
| Characteristic | Typical |
|---|---|
| Command protocol | MAVLink v1/v2, unsigned, unencrypted |
| GPS | Civil L1, no authentication |
| Firmware | Factory version, publicly documented |
| Telemetry | Unencrypted, broadcast in the clear |
| Failsafe logic | Published, deterministic, exploitable |
Viable categories: All five. Full ASTRA toolkit applies.
Prevalence: The majority of commercially available platforms, including Chinese COTS drones used for ISR. This is the current baseline threat.
Tier 1 — Protocol-Hardened
Communication protocols secured. Command authentication and/or encryption enabled. Everything else remains Tier 0.
| Characteristic | Typical |
|---|---|
| Command protocol | MAVLink v2 with signing, or encrypted proprietary |
| GPS | Civil L1, no authentication (unchanged) |
| Telemetry | Encrypted or signed |
Viable categories:
| Category | Status |
|---|---|
| Specter | ✓ Encrypted traffic still detectable via RF fingerprinting |
| Mirage | ✓ GPS spoofing unaffected by protocol hardening |
| Fracture | ✓ Decision logic unaffected |
| Override | ✗ Requires defeating signing/encryption |
| Sever | ✓ Resource exhaustion and comms denial unaffected |
Protocol hardening defeats Override but leaves everything else intact. A Tier 1 target is marginally harder than Tier 0.
Tier 2 — Sensor-Hardened
Sensor inputs hardened. GPS authentication, multi-sensor fusion, anti-spoofing firmware, or redundant navigation. Protocol hardening also present.
| Characteristic | Typical |
|---|---|
| Command protocol | Encrypted and authenticated |
| GPS | Multi-constellation with authentication, or GPS-denied navigation |
| Firmware | Hardened, anti-tamper protections may be present |
| Navigation | Multi-modal (GPS + visual + LIDAR + INS) |
Viable categories:
| Category | Status |
|---|---|
| Specter | ✓ Detection works; classification harder |
| Mirage | ⚠ GPS spoofing defeated by authentication. Multi-modal requires multi-sensor spoofing |
| Fracture | ⚠ Harder with adaptive logic but decision complexity creates new attack surface |
| Override | ✗ Protocol hardening defeats injection |
| Sever | ✓ Physics-based attacks unaffected |
Significant step up. Fracture and Sever become primary viable active categories.
Tier 3 — Full-Stack Hardened
Every layer hardened. Military-grade or purpose-built.
| Characteristic | Typical |
|---|---|
| Command protocol | Military encryption, hardware security modules |
| GPS | Military M-code or GPS-denied capable |
| Firmware | Signed, encrypted, anti-tamper, secure boot |
| Telemetry | LPI waveforms |
| Failsafe logic | Adaptive, non-deterministic |
| Physical | Anti-tamper enclosures, potted electronics |
Viable categories:
| Category | Status |
|---|---|
| Specter | ⚠ RF detection viable but classification severely limited |
| Mirage | ✗ Without novel research |
| Fracture | ⚠ Requires novel research |
| Override | ✗ Cryptographic protection defeats known techniques |
| Sever | ⚠ Resource exhaustion works (physics). Anti-jam degrades comms denial |
Phase D must honestly report “no viable countermeasure with current capability” when this is the assessment.
Assessment Flow
1. Is the command channel encrypted or signed?
No → Tier 0
Yes → Continue
2. Is GPS authenticated or navigation multi-modal?
No → Tier 1
Yes → Continue
3. Anti-tamper, secure boot, LPI comms, adaptive decision logic?
No → Tier 2
Yes → Tier 3
Real-world platforms may be mixed (Tier 1 comms, Tier 0 GPS). Phase D evaluates viability per attack vector, not per overall tier.
The Trajectory
The threat landscape is Tier 0 today. GPS authentication is deploying. Protocol signing is becoming standard. Multi-sensor navigation is commoditizing. The trajectory moves toward Tier 2 over the next 5-10 years.
ASTRA is designed for this. Fracture and Sever — the categories that survive hardening — exploit decision logic complexity and physical constraints that cannot be patched. Building expertise in these now creates capability that remains viable as the adversary hardens.