How GPS Spoofing Can Take Control Of Drones And Ships

[Purveyor]

A University of Texas researcher who has hacked the navigational systems of drones and ships told PBS on Friday that anyone with his software could do the same.

“You know, we had done experiments in our laboratory and we’d convinced ourselves that we could hack a GPS receiver, make it believe it’s some other place, but what does this mean?” Professor Todd Humphreys said. “What does it entail? Could you, for example, remotely and clandestinely lead an expensive and enormous ship at sea off course without the crew even knowing? That was the question we sought to answer, and it turns out the answer is yes.”

Humphrey’s and and his graduate students used a technique called “GPS spoofing,” in which false GPS signals are broadcast that trick a vehicle’s GPS receiver. The researchers first used the technique to commandeer an aerial drone. More recently, they commandeered a ship.

--CLIP

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http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/08/04/watch-how-gps-spoofing-can-take-control-of-drones-and-ships/

[hack89]

1. Which is why military GPS is encrypted. nt

[Downwinder]

2. How did Iran catch a drone?

[hack89]

3. They didn't

it most likely malfunctioned, crashed and Iran claimed responsibility. Drones have a long way before they are as reliable as manned aircraft - their accident rate is very high.