This was referred to in my post (subject: 'Loran') on 8/8/17 and was a news item in 'Inside GNSS' and other journals before that. Didn't get many comments on my post :-( Must have used the wrong subject!!!!
Paul G8GJA -----Original Message----- From: time-nuts [mailto:time-nuts-boun...@febo.com] On Behalf Of John Allen Sent: 12 August 2017 22:23 To: Discussion of precise time and frequency measurement Subject: [time-nuts] Ships fooled in GPS spoofing attack suggest Russian cyberweapon FYI, John K1AE -----Original Message----- From: YCCC [mailto:yccc-boun...@contesting.com] On Behalf Of ROBERT DOHERTY Sent: Saturday, August 12, 2017 9:26 AM To: YCCC Reflector Subject: [YCCC] Fwd: Re: [Radio Officers, &c] Ships fooled in GPS spoofing attack suggest Russian cyberweapon As if there were not enough problems in the world ..... Whitey K1VV > Date: August 12, 2017 at 7:37 AM > Subject: Re: [Radio Officers, &c] Ships fooled in GPS spoofing > attack suggest Russian cyberweapon > > Ships fooled in GPS spoofing attack suggest Russian cyberweapon > > News from: New Scientis (article reported by R/O Luca Milone – > IZ7GEG) > > > https://www.newscientist.com/article/2143499-ships-fooled-in-gps-spoof > ing-attack-suggest-russian-cyberweapon/#.WY6zNfZq1VA.google_plusone_sh > are > https://www.newscientist.com/article/2143499-ships-fooled-in-gps-spoof > ing-attack-suggest-russian-cyberweapon/#.WY6zNfZq1VA.google_plusone_sh > are > > > On date: 10 August 2017 > > By David Hambling > > > Reports of satellite navigation problems in the Black Sea suggest that > Russia may be testing a new system for spoofing GPS, New Scientist has > learned. This could be the first hint of a new form of electronic warfare > available to everyone from rogue nation states to petty criminals. > > > On 22 June, the US Maritime Administration filed a seemingly bland > incident report. The master of a ship off the Russian port of Novorossiysk > had discovered his GPS put him in the wrong spot – more than 32 kilometres > inland, at Gelendzhik Airport. > > > After checking the navigation equipment was working properly, the captain > contacted other nearby ships. Their AIS traces – signals from the automatic > identification system used to track vessels – placed them all at the same > airport. At least 20 ships were affected > http://maritime-executive.com/editorials/mass-gps-spoofing-attack-in-black-sea > . > > > While the incident is not yet confirmed, experts think this is the first > documented use of GPS misdirection – > https://www.marad.dot.gov/msci/alert/2017/2017-005a-gps-interference-black-sea/ > a spoofing attack that has long been warned of but never been seen in the > wild. > > > Until now, the biggest worry for GPS has been it can be jammed > https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn20202-gps-chaos-how-a-30-box-can-jam-your-life/ > by masking the GPS satellite signal with noise. While this can cause chaos, > it is also easy to detect. GPS receivers sound an alarm when they lose the > signal due to jamming. Spoofing is more insidious: a false signal from a > ground station simply confuses a satellite receiver. “Jamming just causes the > receiver to die, spoofing causes the receiver to lie,” says consultant David > Last http://www.professordavidlast.co.uk/ , former president of the UK’s > Royal Institute of Navigation. > > > Todd Humphreys > http://www.ae.utexas.edu/faculty/faculty-directory/humphreys , of the > University of Texas at Austin, has been warning of the coming danger of GPS > spoofing for many years. In 2013, he showed how a superyacht with > state-of-the-art navigation could be lured off-course by GPS spoofing. “The > receiver’s behaviour in the Black Sea incident was much like during the > controlled attacks http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/navi.183/full > my team conducted,” says Humphreys. > > > Humphreys thinks this is Russia experimenting with a new form of > electronic warfare. Over the past year, GPS spoofing has been causing chaos > for the receivers on phone apps in central Moscow to misbehave > https://themoscowtimes.com/articles/the-kremlin-eats-gps-for-breakfast-55823 > . The scale of the problem did not become apparent until people began trying > to play Pokemon Go. The fake signal, which seems to centre on the Kremlin, > relocates anyone nearby to Vnukovo Airport > http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2017/01/bizarre-gps-spoofing-means-drivers-near-kremlin-always-airport/ > , 32 km away. This is probably for defensive reasons; many NATO guided > bombs, missiles and drones rely on GPS navigation, and successful spoofing > would make it impossible for them to hit their targets. > > > But now the geolocation interference is being used far away from the > Kremlin. Some worry that this means that spoofing is getting easier. GPS > spoofing previously required considerable technical expertise. Humphreys had > to build his first spoofer from scratch in 2008, but notes that it can now be > done with commercial hardware and software downloaded from the Internet. > > > Nor does it require much power. Satellite signals are very weak – about > 20 watts from 20,000 miles away – so a one-watt transmitter on a hilltop, > plane or drone is enough to spoof everything out to the horizon. > > > If the hardware and software are becoming more accessible, nation states > soon won’t be the only ones using the technology. This is within the scope of > any competent hacker > http://www.comsoc.org/ctn/lost-space-how-secure-future-mobile-positioning . > There have not yet been any authenticated reports of criminal spoofing, but > it should not be difficult for criminals to use it to divert a driverless > vehicle > https://www.newscientist.com/article/2142059-sneaky-attacks-trick-ais-into-seeing-or-hearing-whats-not-there/ > or drone delivery, or to hijack an autonomous ship. Spoofing will give > everyone affected the same location, so a hijacker would just need a > short-ranged system to affect one vehicle. > > > But Humphreys believes that spoofing by a state operator is the more > serious threat. “It affects safety-of-life operations over a large area,” he > says. “In congested waters with poor weather, such as the English Channel, it > would likely cause great confusion, and probably collisions.” > > > Last says that the Black Sea incident suggests a new device capable of > causing widespread disruption, for example, if used in the ongoing dispute > with Ukraine. “My gut feeling is that this is a test of a system which will > be used in anger at some other time.” > > > 73’s > webmaster _______________________________________________ YCCC Reflector mailto:y...@contesting.com Yankee Clipper Contest Club http://www.yccc.org Reflector Info: http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/yccc --- This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software. https://www.avast.com/antivirus _______________________________________________ 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. _______________________________________________ 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.
