GPS jammers have potentially catastrophic effects

The British government’s report warned that the UK must reduce its reliance on GPS technology for critical infrastructure and emergency services to mitigate the potentially catastrophic effects of GPS jammer signals. Cabinet Secretary Oliver Dowden stated in the long-awaited Science Bureau document that the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) is often referred to as a “stealth tool.” “As shown in this report, it is in our national interest to recognize the exact nature and extent of our reliance on global navigation satellite systems.

He wrote in the satellite report: “If GNSS fails, we must take measures to increase the resilience of critical services, including the use of potential backup systems when needed.” When and where: Study critical dependencies (PDF). Last year, the government warned the United Kingdom that if a major GPS malfunction occurs, one billion pounds will be lost every day. In 2016, the retirement of American satellites caused errors in the GPS network, which affected certain industries in the UK.

However, the report said that one of the biggest threats is increased interference to GNSS signals caused by “gps blocker” and “identity theft.” “In the past 15 years, portable GNSS jammer systems have been greatly developed: from military areas to criminal groups to criminal groups, so that people are now chasing jammers and being captured by ordinary civilians. Protect yourself from Daily life violations.” Emergency services have two main GNSS applications that use data from the caller’s phone to locate emergency situations. And navigate quickly and successfully.

This technology is also widely used in financial services. Transactions are usually determined by algorithmic transactions, and algorithmic transactions require timestamps ranging from milliseconds to microseconds. This form of precise synchronization also requires audit trail traceability. Charles Curry, the founder and author of Resilient’s GPS Timekeeping Technology Report, told El Reg: “I think cyber attacks on the Internet are no different from cyber attacks using GPS scrambling technology. North Korea and Russia have always been both. Yes. What would prevent someone from launching a high-power jammer in central London and exiting the financial services industry?

He added that the government should act in a way that establishes a safeguard system, because legal deterrence alone is not enough to avoid a blockade. According to the “Wireless Communication and Telegraph Act” (2006), intentional transmission in the GNSS frequency band is not authorized or exempt. Therefore, it is illegal to use bottling equipment, but do not own it. The report said: “This means that the court must prove its intent to use, which can be difficult.”

GPS was originally a military system that allowed civilian users to obtain degraded services-with an accuracy of tens of meters-but in 1983, Korean Air Flight 007 was shot down by Russia and accidentally stolen. , Ronald Reagan signed an executive order authorizing civilians to use GPS. The report calls for people to further understand our dependence on global navigation satellite systems; need to protect the GNSS spectrum; improve national risk assessment; and need to provide safeguards such as enhanced low-frequency navigation system (LORAN). Governments, businesses and universities will also need to adopt a more coordinated approach.