Hello Again Time Nuts, Sorry - first time I went to that site it was 'OK' but then I see it requires registration - here's the story:
Regards, John W. February 13, 2014 7:22 pm GPS pioneer warns on network's security By Sam Jones and Carola Hoyos [image: Europe --- This image is a composite of hundreds of pictures made by the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP), which currently operates four satellites carrying the Operational Linescan System (OLS) in low-altitude polar orbits. Three of these satellites record nighttime data. The DMSP-OLS has a unique capability to detect low levels of visible-near infrared (VNIR) radiance at night. With the OLS 'VIS' band data it is possible to detect clouds illuminated by moonlight, plus lights from cities, towns, industrial sites, gas flares, and ephemeral events such as fires and lightning-illuminated clouds](c)NASA The Global Positioning System helps power everything from in-car satnavs and smart bombs to bank security and flight control, but its founder has warned that it is more vulnerable to sabotage or disruption than ever before - and politicians and security chiefs are ignoring the risk. Impairment of the system by hostile foreign governments, cyber criminals - or even regular citizens - has become "a matter of national security", according to Colonel Bradford Parkinson, who is hailed as the architect of modern navigation <http://www.nae.edu/55030.aspx>. - <https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ft.com%2Fcms%2Fs%2F0%2Ffadf1714-940d-11e3-bf0c-00144feab7de.html&text=GPS%20pioneer%20warns%20on%20network%E2%80%99s%20security%20-%20FT.com&original_referer=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ft.com%2Fintl%2Fcms%2Fs%2F0%2Ffadf1714-940d-11e3-bf0c-00144feab7de.html&related=fttheworld&via=FT> - <http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ft.com%2Fcms%2Fs%2F0%2Ffadf1714-940d-11e3-bf0c-00144feab7de.html&t=GPS%20pioneer%20warns%20on%20network%E2%80%99s%20security%20-%20FT.com+|+US%20%26%20Canada> - <https://plus.google.com/share?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ft.com%2Fcms%2Fs%2F0%2Ffadf1714-940d-11e3-bf0c-00144feab7de.html> - <http://www.linkedin.com/shareArticle?mini=true&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ft.com%2Fcms%2Fs%2F0%2Ffadf1714-940d-11e3-bf0c-00144feab7de.html&title=GPS%20pioneer%20warns%20on%20network%E2%80%99s%20security%20-%20FT.com+|+US%20%26%20Canada&summary=Crucial+navigation+system+vulnerable+to+attack&source=Financial%20Times> More ON THIS STORY - In depth Cyber warfare <http://www.ft.com/indepth/cyber-warfare> - Analysis Eyes in the sky<http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/b42e4e34-0bfa-11e3-8840-00144feabdc0.html> - N Korea jams signals on Seoul flights<http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/aa557dd4-944f-11e1-bb47-00144feab49a.html> - Growth in cyber attacks 'unprecedented'<http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/ab3c847a-7e1a-11e3-b409-00144feabdc0.html> - Academy warns on solar superstorm<http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/f30d9e54-7067-11e2-ab31-00144feab49a.html> ON THIS TOPIC - Sochi is a cyber war zone, experts warn<http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/08895c6e-92ae-11e3-8018-00144feab7de.html> - Security chiefs warn over cyber defence<http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/fd93a898-8e4b-11e3-98c6-00144feab7de.html> - Cyber criminals 'targeting share prices'<http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/4a063b34-8de6-11e3-ba55-00144feab7de.html> - Target was not sole cyber attack victim<http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/5e183dfe-7fb1-11e3-94d2-00144feabdc0.html> IN US & CANADA - Obama walks into Asia tensions crossfire<http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/97d7c088-8edd-11e3-98c6-00144feab7de.html> - Think-tank proposes sovereign debt forum<http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/19a993fc-7ec1-11e3-8642-00144feabdc0.html> - Democrats prove barrier to Obama on trade<http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/fcc7adfe-7b9c-11e3-a2da-00144feabdc0.html> - US Midwest thaws after 'polar vortex'<http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/563f20ec-7981-11e3-b381-00144feabdc0.html> "If we don't watch out and we aren't prepared," then countries could be denied everything from 'navigation' to 'precision weapon delivery', Mr Parkinson warned. "We have to make it more robust ... our cellphone towers are timed with GPS. If they lose that time, they lose sync and pretty soon they don't operate. Our power grid is synchronised with GPS [and] our banking system." Western governments are "in their infancy in recognising the problem", Mr Parkinson told the Financial Times in an interview on the fringes of a conference for government officials, academics and defence contractors at the UK's National Physical Laboratory. He said: "[In the US] I don't know anyone that is really in charge of it. The Department of Homeland Security should be [but] ... they don't have any people that understand it very well. They've got one person without any budget to speak of." Mr Parkinson, now a professor at Stanford University, created GPS in the 1970s on behalf of the US military - who still control the system of satellites today. Use of the system for civilian purposes has exploded with the development of mobile technologies. Though the US military has in place protection that could give its navigation systems a high-degree of robustness, most civilian GPS systems have none, Mr Parkinson said. He also warned that the EU's new EURO 5bn Galileo satellite system, created as an alternative to the US-controlled GPS, was equally at risk. Richard Peckham, who helped develop the Galileo system, said that although its public service was encrypted, making it more difficult to hack and more secure for users such as the emergency services and public utilities, it was still vulnerable to jamming and interference. The US, which initially opposed the European satellite constellation, has come around to supporting it, in part because Washington has realised it needs a GPS back-up system that is neither Russian nor Chinese. A report compiled for the UK government and released this week warned that "the conditions are present for a catastrophic 'Black Swan' event" that would knock out one or more critical GPS systems. The report identified thousands of instances of GPS jamming occurring annually. Disruption of satellite navigation systems has so far remained a relatively low-level problem for governments. Small-range jamming devices can be acquired easily via the internet. However, more powerful jamming equipment is becoming increasingly easy to acquire. Over the past few years South Korea has witnessed huge jamming attacks against its GPS systems, launched by North Korea. The areas affected stretch 100km into South Korean territory, and include major airports and shipping lanes. More than 1,000 ships and 250 planes had their travel disrupted by North Korean jamming attacks in 2012<http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/aa557dd4-944f-11e1-bb47-00144feab49a.html?siteedition=uk> . Seoul has responded by ordering the construction of a land-based antenna array over more than 40 sites to provide a back-up system. The UK has already begun to build a similar system, primarily to help shipping in the event of GPS disruption. The stretch of water between Britain and France is one of the busiest shipping lanes in the world, but navigation throughout it could be disrupted by a single portable jamming device. "When a ship loses GPS, it isn't like a car satnav," said Professor David Last, a consultant to the UK's General Lighthouse Authority. "Multiple systems fail simultaneously." Prof Last cited a report into navigation vulnerabilities* from the Royal Academy of Engineering* <http://www.raeng.org.uk/news/publications/list/reports/RAoE_Global_Navigation_Systems_Report.pdf>that found "there was barely a single area of commerce or industry in the UK that wasn't dependent on GPS in some way." RELATED TOPICS - United States of America<http://www.ft.com/topics/places/United_States_of_America> , - United Kingdom <http://www.ft.com/topics/places/United_Kingdom>, - Drones <http://www.ft.com/topics/themes/Drones> - On Thu, Feb 13, 2014 at 7:20 PM, John C. Westmoreland, P.E. < j...@westmorelandengineering.com> wrote: > Hello Time Nuts, > > I thought this would be of interest to the group: > > http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/fadf1714-940d-11e3-bf0c-00144feab7de.html > > Regards, > John W. > _______________________________________________ time-nuts mailing list -- time-nuts@febo.com To unsubscribe, go to https://www.febo.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts and follow the instructions there.