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

Fri Feb 14 13:45:02 UTC 2014

You should not denigrate PhotoMultiplier tubes.

They are virtually perfect, almost noiseless, detectors. With the right
photocathode, they are capable of QEs >50%, spectral response from the VUV
to near IR, and dark counts <1 PPS, with maximum count rates >10 MPPS.
Thay can easily have current gains of >10E+6

-John

====================

> Thanks, John
> It's quite clear that at least one far eastern nation, need I name it?
> is going for domination of space, meanwhile feinting with such useless
> stuff as old rotted carriers and the like, nothing up my sleeve, trick
> the first, meanwhile building its own gps fleet, hardened i'll bet, and
> reaching for the moon. DMSP's are OLD stuff (they use pm tubes to get
> that sensitivity; we've looked at both fires and lightning with them for
> more than 30 yrs if I remember right???
> Don
>
> John C. Westmoreland, P.E.
>> 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.
>>>
>> _______________________________________________
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>>
>>
>
>
> --
> "The power of accurate observation is commonly called cynicism by those
> who have not got it."
>  -George Bernard Shaw
>
>
> Dr. Don Latham AJ7LL
> Six Mile Systems LLC
> 17850 Six Mile Road
> POB 134
> Huson, MT, 59846
> VOX 406-626-4304
> Skype: buffler2
> www.lightningforensics.com
> www.sixmilesystems.com
>
>
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