Context:
Instances of GPS interference, including spoofing, have surged considerably near India’s borders with Pakistan and Myanmar. These regions rank among the top five globally for such occurrences, according to OPSGROUP, a collective of 8,000 aviation personnel.
Key Observations on GPS Interference:
GPS interference disrupts the reception of signals from GPS satellites, hindering accurate location and timing information. These interferences can impact navigation, timing systems, and various applications relying on GPS technology.
- Daily impacted flights: Rose from 300 in January to 1,500 by August 2024.
- Delhi Flight Information Region: Ranked ninth globally with 316 aircraft impacted by spoofing between July and August.
- Spoofing incident: Contributed to the December 25 Azerbaijan Airlines crash, killing 38 people.
- Russia: Apologized for air defense actions amid drone attacks.
Different types of GPS Interference:
- Jamming: Intentional interference using strong signals that overwhelm GPS signals.
- Spoofing: Malicious transmissions of false GPS data, deceiving receivers about their location.
- Natural Interference: Atmospheric conditions (ionospheric disturbances) and solar activity can distort GPS signals.
- Man-made Interference: Radio frequency interference from electronic devices, communication systems, and industrial equipment.
Spoofing:
- Spoofing: A cybersecurity technique where attackers disguise their identity as a trusted source to gain unauthorized access or deceive victims.
- These techniques exploit trust and vulnerabilities to deceive victims and gain unauthorized access to systems or data.
Common types of Spoofing:
- Email Spoofing: Forging the sender’s address in emails to trick recipients into opening malicious attachments or clicking on harmful links.
- IP Spoofing: Masking the origin of network traffic to appear as if it’s coming from a legitimate source, allowing attackers to bypass security measures.
- DNS Spoofing: Manipulating Domain Name System records to redirect users to malicious websites instead of the intended destination.
- Caller ID Spoofing: Displaying a fake phone number on the caller ID to trick recipients into answering calls from scammers.
- GPS Spoofing: Interfering with GPS signals to provide inaccurate location information, potentially leading to navigation errors or security breaches.
About GPS Spoofing
- GPS Spoofing: Manipulating or deceiving a GPS receiver by broadcasting false GPS signals.
- Misleads GPS receivers into providing inaccurate location data by making it believe it is in a different location.
- Distinct from GPS jamming: Where GPS signals are blocked or jammed entirely.
How Does GPS Spoofing Work?
- Exploiting Weak Signals:
- GPS spoofing exploits the weak signal strength of GPS satellites.
- Satellites transmit signals that Earth-based receivers analyze to determine their location by calculating the signal’s travel time.
- Use of Fake Signals:
- Attackers transmit fake GPS signals that are stronger than authentic ones, overpowering the legitimate signals.
- These counterfeit signals mislead the receiver into calculating inaccurate location data.
- Attacker Methods:
- Attackers study a victim’s GPS setup to create counterfeit signals that closely mimic authentic ones, ensuring effective deception.
Source: TH
Previous Year Question
With reference to “Software as a Service (SaaS)”, consider the following statements:
1. SaaS buyers can customise the user interface and can change data fields.
2. SaaS users can access their data through their mobile devices.
3. Outlook, Hotmail and Yahoo! Mail are forms of SaaS.
Which of the statements given above are correct?
[UPSC CSE – 2022 Prelims]
(a) 1 and 2 only
(b) 2 and 3 only
(c) 1 and 3 only
(d) 1, 2 and 3
Answer: (d)