Government leaders worry about GPS spoofing, hacking

Industry leaders and government officials warn position, navigation and timing services are increasingly under attack, including through a method that allows adversaries to manipulate computers that use GPS.

During a panel at the annual Satellite conference May 7, industry leaders and government officials pointed to various threats facing GPS and what needs to be done to protect those services. Spoofing and hacking have become a primary concern for GPS government leaders this year.

“At this point in 2019, we understand there are jamming threats that can overpower the receiver. That’s always been a known threat,” said James Miller, executive director of the National Space-Based PNT Advisory Board. “Then there’s spoofing — a little bit more complicated — where you can actually misguide or take someone off their route and they won’t even be aware of it. And finally, we’re being faced with a type of hacking, or smart spoofing, where some of the computer systems that run on GPS are actually manipulated.”

For less than $100, an adversary can purchase the necessary equipment to interfere with or mimic GPS signals. As GPS has become essentially ubiquitous in modern technology, from satellites to personal cell phones, the danger of such an attack has grown and become a greater concern for military leaders.

“(GPS) has become an economic powerhouse. I don’t think when folks were coming up with this system they could have envisioned things like ride-hailing apps, power system timing,” said Jonathon Caldwell, vice president for navigation systems and GPS III program manager at Lockheed Martin. Lockheed Martin is the prime contractor on the Air Force’s GPS III program. “Just the agricultural impact in the US alone has been quite staggering.”

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