Non-secure GPS Tracking Means Non-secure GPS Tracking

One of the greatest features of the GPS and the main reason it has become a utility for the world is that there is a signal available for the world to use in what we call in the military security business “non-secure”.  This is the standard GPS signal that virtually everyone means when they talk “GPS”.  In fact, it is even called the SPS (Standard Positioning Signal).

The GPS, however, has other signals available which are not free to use or open to all customers.  These are specially encrypted sgnals, typically only available to US and allied military users and government users approved by the US military.

Why on earth have asystem with two separate sets of signals?  Almost like having two completely redundnat systems built into one .. double the cost .. another fabled “$600 dollar toilet seat”?

Well, not quite.  This has been amajor concern of mine for years, but a lot of information has been sensitive or even formally classifed as Secret by the US government, and thus off limits for me to write about.  But hey, if it’s on the Discovery Channel …..

The second, more sinister, method is called spoofing. In spoofing, the intended target doesn’t know that the signal received from a GPS unit is wrong: A spoofer creates a false GPS signal that passes as a real GPS signal, and an incorrect time or location appears on the intended receiver.

Safeguards Needed? | Video: Discovery Tech

Oct. 2, 2008 — Computers have been hacked for decades. But now, scientists at Cornell University and Virginia Tech are now warning about the dangers of “spoofing,” or hacking into the Global Positioning System (GPS) that controls everything from car navigation to national power grids.

“The average person doesn’t realize how much infrastructure is based on GPS and how vulnerable it is,” said Brent Ledvina of Virginia Tech, who helped build a spoofer to show weaknesses in the system. “But the truth is that a lot can be done about these vulnerabilities.”

A GPS receiver detects signals from about 30 orbiting satellites. Based on the time it takes for the signal to reach the receiver and the direction it came from, the receiver can triangulate an exact time and place, down to hundreds of nanoseconds, according to Ledvina.

The easiest way to mess with a GPS device is simply to jam it, or create a false GPS signal that overpowers the real GPS signal. In this case, the victim would know about the sabotage right away; often the GPS receiver simply doesn’t work. Full Discovery GPS spoofing article here.

To learn more about what is really going on in the world of GPS Tracking and how it can provide a secure ROI for your business, be sure to subscibe to the GPS Tracking ROI blog so you don’t miss a single article.