16/Apr/2019
A recent report suggests that Russia is hacking the global navigation satellite system (GNSS) on an enormous scale. As a result, ships and aircraft can be confused as to where they are positioned. The report was prepared by US think tank the Centre for Advanced Defence Studies (C4ADS).
Law enforcement, shipping, airlines, power stations, mobile phones, and anything else dependent on GPS (Global Positioning System) time and location synchronisation, are vulnerable to GNSS hacking.
“All critical national infrastructures rely on GNSS to some extent, with Communications, Emergency Services, Finance, and Transport identified as particularly intensive users,” according to a report commissioned by the UK Space Agency. An attack that disabled GNSS in Britain would cost about £1 billion every day the system was down, the report said.
The C4ADS study reported that 1,311 civilian ships have been affected and 9,883 incidents were reported or detected.
Protecting Putin
Until the last couple of years, C4ADS believed that the Russians were using GNSS jamming or spoofing mainly to disguise the whereabouts of President Putin.
“The geographical placement of the spoofing incidents closely aligns with places where Vladimir Putin was making overseas and domestic visits, suggesting that Russian forces had developed mobile GNSS jamming units to provide protection for the Russian president. The incidents also align with the locations of Russian military and government resources. Although in some areas the motive was likely to restrict access to or obstruct foreign military,” according to Digital Shadows. Indeed, most of the incidents have been recorded in Crimea, the Black Sea, Syria, and Russia.
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