Why GPS Is Under Attack
The Global Positioning System runs the modern world.
But it is under daily attack.
This year alone, researchers say, more than 60,000 commercial flights have been hit by bogus GPS signals, which can confuse pilots.
The American GPS network that was once the gold standard is at risk of becoming a relic as Chinese, Russian and European systems modernize.
Without GPS, much of modern life would falter. Delayed ambulances. Extended power cuts. No cellphone signals.
Yet the U.S. has no civilian backup system.
GPS is simple, trustworthy and always on. It is also vulnerable.
GPS satellites blanket the world with two pieces of information: where they are in orbit and what time it is.
The time it takes for a signal to reach your cellphone lets it know how far it is from the satellite.
By listening to four satellites at once, your device can pinpoint your location on Earth.
These superaccurate satellite clocks also help synchronize computer systems, like those that tell stock markets whose trades arrived first.
Yet GPS is easy to manipulate.
Jamming attacks drown out satellite signals.
GPS is being jammed worldwide, but especially near conflict zones. Baltic countries blame Russia for jamming their airspace.
Spoofing attacks send out misleading data that makes GPS receivers think they are somewhere else. That can make pilots think they’re on course or at a safe altitude when they’re not.
This data shows where planes were spoofed in the first five months of this year. The Middle East has become a hotspot.
One major source of spoofing is an Israeli air base, University of Texas researchers found.
Spoofing disrupts Hamas rockets but affects commercial flights, too. While planes have backup safety systems, spoofing nearly sent a business jet into Iranian-controlled airspace last year.
Satellites are also vulnerable to missile attacks.
And it may seem like science fiction, but China and the United States have technology that can use one satellite to crush or “kidnap” another.
The U.S. is lagging behind in this new competition in space. GPS satellites are getting old, many exceeding the designed lifespan of 8 to 15 years, and the U.S. has been slow to replace them.
Other countries have developed newer alternatives.
The European Galileo system authenticates its signals, ensuring signals are real.
China’s Beidou system has the most satellites, and the country has built infrastructure on Earth to expand its coverage.
More importantly, China has a backup plan. It is building timing stations that broadcast signals covering the whole country and is laying 12,000 miles of fiber-optic cables that can provide time and navigation without satellites.
A U.S. backup plan was proposed a decade ago but never took off.
New American technologies are in development but could take years before they are widely adopted.
In a race over time itself, the United States is losing.
