Stay updated on GPS security threats and advancements. Explore the latest news and insights in the GPS infosec field. Protect your tracking tech today.
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Background for this topic.
GPS (Global Positioning System) is a satellite-based navigation and timing service. A receiver calculates its position and precise time from signals broadcast by satellites; it usually does not authenticate those signals before using them. GPS is one component of the broader family of global navigation satellite systems (GNSS), although “GPS” is often used informally for satellite navigation generally.
Its main security concerns are spoofing and jamming. Spoofing transmits counterfeit signals that can make a receiver report a false location or time; jamming overwhelms the weak satellite signals and causes loss of service. These attacks can disrupt navigation, geofencing, surveying, or systems that depend on GPS timing, but their effect depends on receiver design and signal exposure. Defenses include authenticated signals where available, interference monitoring, plausibility checks, and independent sources such as inertial sensors or terrestrial timing. GPS-enabled phones, vehicles, and tracking systems also create privacy risks because stored location histories can reveal movements and routines; access controls, retention limits, and transparent collection practices are relevant safeguards.
Weekly headline count for the current query.
North Korean hackers from the KONNI activity cluster are abusing Google's Find Hub tool to track their targets' GPS positions and trigger remote factory resets of Android devices. [...]
Garmin users are reporting that their watches crash when using apps that require GPS access and then get stuck in a reboot loop, showing a blue triangle logo. [...]
Hackers are using a fake Android app named 'SafeChat' to infect devices with spyware malware that steals call logs, texts, and GPS locations from phones. [...]
Vulnerability researchers have found security issues in a GPS tracker that is advertised as being present in about 1.5 million vehicles in 169 countries. [...]
The European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), EU's air transport safety and environmental protection regulator, warned today of intermittent outages affecting Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) linked to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. [...]
Finland's Transport and Communications Agency, Traficom, has issued a public announcement informing of an unusual spike in GPS interference near the country's eastern border. [...]