Extensive research by the Center for Advanced Defense (C4ADS) has found evidence that Russia has spoofed global positioning data of the global navigation satellite system (GNSS) on almost 10,000 different occasions over the last three years. Ships and autonomous vehicle systems rely on GNSS for navigation. The findings of the study indicate that this reliance can put vessels and vehicles at risk.
Spoofing mostly took place in Russia and Crimea as well as Russia’s Khmeimim Airbase in Syria. The incidents usually coincided with visits of Russian President Vladimir Putin or other high-ranking officials. According to one author of the study, Russia’s interference with GPS data could inspire other countries as well as illicit nonstate actors to start exploiting flaws in GNSS systems as well.
Read more: Russia Regularly Spoofs Regional GPS