👀 Ones to watch: Undervalued stocks to buy before they report Q3 earningsSee Undervalued Stocks

GPS spoofers 'hack time' on commercial airlines, researchers say

Published 08/10/2024, 06:36 PM
Updated 08/10/2024, 06:40 PM
© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: A Boeing 737 MAX 9 cockpit, Benito Juarez International airport, in Mexico City, July 14, 2021. REUTERS/Luis Cortes/File Photo

By James Pearson

LAS VEGAS (Reuters) - A recent surge in GPS “spoofing”, a form of digital attack which can send commercial airliners off course, has entered an intriguing new dimension, according to cybersecurity researchers: The ability to hack time.

There has been a 400% surge in GPS spoofing incidents affecting commercial airliners in recent months, according to aviation advisory body OPSGROUP. Many of those incidents involve illicit ground-based GPS systems, particularly around conflict zones, that broadcast incorrect positions to the surrounding airspace in a bid to confuse incoming drones or missiles.

“We think too much about GPS being a source of position, but it's actually a source of time,” Ken Munro, founder of Pen Test Partners, a British cybersecurity firm, said during a presentation at the DEF CON hacking convention in Las Vegas on Saturday.

“We're starting to see reports of the clocks on board airplanes during spoofing events start to do weird things."

In an interview with Reuters, Munro cited a recent incident in which an aircraft operated by a major Western airline had its onboard clocks suddenly sent forward by years, causing the plane to lose access to its digitally-encrypted communication systems. 

The plane was grounded for weeks while engineers manually reset its onboard systems, said Munro. He declined to identify the airline or aircraft in question.

In April, Finnair temporarily paused flights to the eastern Estonian city of Tartu due to GPS spoofing which Tallin blamed on neighboring Russia.

GPS, short for Global Positioning System, has largely replaced expensive ground devices that transmit radio beams to guide planes towards landing. However, it is also fairly easy to block or distort GPS signals using relatively cheap and easy to obtain parts, and limited technological knowledge.

© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: A Boeing 737 MAX 9 cockpit, Benito Juarez International airport, in Mexico City, July 14, 2021. REUTERS/Luis Cortes/File Photo

“Is it going to make a plane crash? No, it's not,” Munro told Reuters.

“What it does is it just creates a little confusion. And you run the risk of starting what we call a cascade of events, where something minor happens, something else minor happens, and then something serious happens."

Latest comments

Risk Disclosure: Trading in financial instruments and/or cryptocurrencies involves high risks including the risk of losing some, or all, of your investment amount, and may not be suitable for all investors. Prices of cryptocurrencies are extremely volatile and may be affected by external factors such as financial, regulatory or political events. Trading on margin increases the financial risks.
Before deciding to trade in financial instrument or cryptocurrencies you should be fully informed of the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, carefully consider your investment objectives, level of experience, and risk appetite, and seek professional advice where needed.
Fusion Media would like to remind you that the data contained in this website is not necessarily real-time nor accurate. The data and prices on the website are not necessarily provided by any market or exchange, but may be provided by market makers, and so prices may not be accurate and may differ from the actual price at any given market, meaning prices are indicative and not appropriate for trading purposes. Fusion Media and any provider of the data contained in this website will not accept liability for any loss or damage as a result of your trading, or your reliance on the information contained within this website.
It is prohibited to use, store, reproduce, display, modify, transmit or distribute the data contained in this website without the explicit prior written permission of Fusion Media and/or the data provider. All intellectual property rights are reserved by the providers and/or the exchange providing the data contained in this website.
Fusion Media may be compensated by the advertisers that appear on the website, based on your interaction with the advertisements or advertisers.
© 2007-2024 - Fusion Media Limited. All Rights Reserved.