[time-nuts] Now For Something Completely Different...GPS Security

Fri Feb 14 05:50:59 UTC 2014

Hello Again Time Nuts,

Sorry - first time I went to that site it was 'OK' but then I see it
requires registration - here's the story:

Regards,
John W.

 February 13, 2014 7:22 pm
GPS pioneer warns on network's security

By Sam Jones and Carola Hoyos
 [image: Europe --- This image is a composite of hundreds of pictures made
by the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP), which currently
operates four satellites carrying the Operational Linescan System (OLS) in
low-altitude polar orbits. Three of these satellites record nighttime data.
The DMSP-OLS has a unique capability to detect low levels of visible-near
infrared (VNIR) radiance at night. With the OLS 'VIS' band data it is
possible to detect clouds illuminated by moonlight, plus lights from
cities, towns, industrial sites, gas flares, and ephemeral events such as
fires and lightning-illuminated clouds](c)NASA

The Global Positioning System helps power everything from in-car satnavs
and smart bombs to bank security and flight control, but its founder has
warned that it is more vulnerable to sabotage or disruption than ever
before - and politicians and security chiefs are ignoring the risk.

Impairment of the system by hostile foreign governments, cyber criminals -
or even regular citizens - has become "a matter of national security",
according to Colonel Bradford Parkinson, who is hailed as the architect of
modern navigation <http://www.nae.edu/55030.aspx>.

   - <https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ft.com%2Fcms%2Fs%2F0%2Ffadf1714-940d-11e3-bf0c-00144feab7de.html&text=GPS%20pioneer%20warns%20on%20network%E2%80%99s%20security%20-%20FT.com&original_referer=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ft.com%2Fintl%2Fcms%2Fs%2F0%2Ffadf1714-940d-11e3-bf0c-00144feab7de.html&related=fttheworld&via=FT>
   - <http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ft.com%2Fcms%2Fs%2F0%2Ffadf1714-940d-11e3-bf0c-00144feab7de.html&t=GPS%20pioneer%20warns%20on%20network%E2%80%99s%20security%20-%20FT.com+|+US%20%26%20Canada>
   - <https://plus.google.com/share?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ft.com%2Fcms%2Fs%2F0%2Ffadf1714-940d-11e3-bf0c-00144feab7de.html>
   - <http://www.linkedin.com/shareArticle?mini=true&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ft.com%2Fcms%2Fs%2F0%2Ffadf1714-940d-11e3-bf0c-00144feab7de.html&title=GPS%20pioneer%20warns%20on%20network%E2%80%99s%20security%20-%20FT.com+|+US%20%26%20Canada&summary=Crucial+navigation+system+vulnerable+to+attack&source=Financial%20Times>

More
ON THIS STORY

   - In depth Cyber warfare <http://www.ft.com/indepth/cyber-warfare>
   - Analysis Eyes in the
sky<http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/b42e4e34-0bfa-11e3-8840-00144feabdc0.html>
   - N Korea jams signals on Seoul
flights<http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/aa557dd4-944f-11e1-bb47-00144feab49a.html>
   - Growth in cyber attacks
'unprecedented'<http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/ab3c847a-7e1a-11e3-b409-00144feabdc0.html>
   - Academy warns on solar
superstorm<http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/f30d9e54-7067-11e2-ab31-00144feab49a.html>

ON THIS TOPIC

   - Sochi is a cyber war zone, experts
warn<http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/08895c6e-92ae-11e3-8018-00144feab7de.html>
   - Security chiefs warn over cyber
defence<http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/fd93a898-8e4b-11e3-98c6-00144feab7de.html>
   - Cyber criminals 'targeting share
prices'<http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/4a063b34-8de6-11e3-ba55-00144feab7de.html>
   - Target was not sole cyber attack
victim<http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/5e183dfe-7fb1-11e3-94d2-00144feabdc0.html>

IN US & CANADA

   - Obama walks into Asia tensions
crossfire<http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/97d7c088-8edd-11e3-98c6-00144feab7de.html>
   - Think-tank proposes sovereign debt
forum<http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/19a993fc-7ec1-11e3-8642-00144feabdc0.html>
   - Democrats prove barrier to Obama on
trade<http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/fcc7adfe-7b9c-11e3-a2da-00144feabdc0.html>
   - US Midwest thaws after 'polar
vortex'<http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/563f20ec-7981-11e3-b381-00144feabdc0.html>

"If we don't watch out and we aren't prepared," then countries could be
denied everything from 'navigation' to 'precision weapon delivery', Mr
Parkinson warned.

"We have to make it more robust ... our cellphone towers are timed with
GPS. If they lose that time, they lose sync and pretty soon they don't
operate. Our power grid is synchronised with GPS [and] our banking system."

Western governments are "in their infancy in recognising the problem", Mr
Parkinson told the Financial Times in an interview on the fringes of a
conference for government officials, academics and defence contractors at
the UK's National Physical Laboratory.

He said: "[In the US] I don't know anyone that is really in charge of it.
The Department of Homeland Security should be [but] ... they don't have any
people that understand it very well. They've got one person without any
budget to speak of."

Mr Parkinson, now a professor at Stanford University, created GPS in the
1970s on behalf of the US military - who still control the system of
satellites today.

Use of the system for civilian purposes has exploded with the development
of mobile technologies.

Though the US military has in place protection that could give its
navigation systems a high-degree of robustness, most civilian GPS systems
have none, Mr Parkinson said. He also warned that the EU's new EURO 5bn Galileo
satellite system, created as an alternative to the US-controlled GPS, was
equally at risk.

Richard Peckham, who helped develop the Galileo system, said that although
its public service was encrypted, making it more difficult to hack and more
secure for users such as the emergency services and public utilities, it
was still vulnerable to jamming and interference.

The US, which initially opposed the European satellite constellation, has
come around to supporting it, in part because Washington has realised it
needs a GPS back-up system that is neither Russian nor Chinese.

A report compiled for the UK government and released this week warned that
"the conditions are present for a catastrophic 'Black Swan' event" that
would knock out one or more critical GPS systems. The report identified
thousands of instances of GPS jamming occurring annually.

Disruption of satellite navigation systems has so far remained a relatively
low-level problem for governments. Small-range jamming devices can be
acquired easily via the internet. However, more powerful jamming equipment
is becoming increasingly easy to acquire.

Over the past few years South Korea has witnessed huge jamming attacks
against its GPS systems, launched by North Korea. The areas affected
stretch 100km into South Korean territory, and include major airports and
shipping lanes. More than 1,000 ships and 250 planes had their travel disrupted
by North Korean jamming attacks in
2012<http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/aa557dd4-944f-11e1-bb47-00144feab49a.html?siteedition=uk>
.

Seoul has responded by ordering the construction of a land-based antenna
array over more than 40 sites to provide a back-up system.

The UK has already begun to build a similar system, primarily to help
shipping in the event of GPS disruption. The stretch of water between
Britain and France is one of the busiest shipping lanes in the world, but
navigation throughout it could be disrupted by a single portable jamming
device.

"When a ship loses GPS, it isn't like a car satnav," said Professor David
Last, a consultant to the UK's General Lighthouse Authority. "Multiple
systems fail simultaneously."

Prof Last cited a report into navigation vulnerabilities* from the Royal
Academy of Engineering*
<http://www.raeng.org.uk/news/publications/list/reports/RAoE_Global_Navigation_Systems_Report.pdf>that
found "there was barely a single area of commerce or industry in the UK
that wasn't dependent on GPS in some way."
 RELATED TOPICS

   - United States of
America<http://www.ft.com/topics/places/United_States_of_America>
   ,
   - United Kingdom <http://www.ft.com/topics/places/United_Kingdom>,
   - Drones <http://www.ft.com/topics/themes/Drones>
   -

On Thu, Feb 13, 2014 at 7:20 PM, John C. Westmoreland, P.E. <
john at westmorelandengineering.com> wrote:

> Hello Time Nuts,
>
> I thought this would be of interest to the group:
>
> http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/fadf1714-940d-11e3-bf0c-00144feab7de.html
>
> Regards,
> John W.
>