Researchers Speak on GPS Spoofing

At this year's ION GNSS conference, Researchers express concerns on the possible damages spoofing GPS can cause through a paper presented on the occasion. GPS spoofing is a term used to describe how a modified GPS receiver could track, modify, and retransmit the signals being transmitted from the GPS satellite constellation and subsequently supply counterfeit navigation devices to nearby navigation devices.

The consequence of this is that these devices would begin using the counterfeit signals supplied by the modified receiver instead of the original GPS signals supplied by satellites.

According to one of the researchers, Psiaki, Cornell professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering, "Our goal is to inspire people who design GPS hardware to think about ways to make it so the kinds of things we're showing can be overcome. Spoofing is not a new concept, but the paper's authors stated that standard spoofing countermeasures would not successfully guard against the signals produced by their reprogrammed receiver.

"We're fairly certain we could spoof all of these, and that's the value of our work," he concluded.