GPS technology underpins much of modern life - it's in every smartphone, modern cars, aeroplanes, ships etc. etc. It's relied upon for navigation, but also timing information to help keep things like mobile networks in sync. Being able to trust what your receiver is telling you is key for logistics, rescue and more importantly pokemon go.
It has long been known that GPS is easy to jam, however it's also been believed to be hard to spoof. With the development of low-cost SDR equipment, spoofing GPS has become feasible for non state-sponsored actors, and reports of spoofed GPS signals have been increasing.
This talk will delve into the detail of how GPS and its competitors Galileo, GLONASS and 北斗卫星导航系统 (BeiDou) work, and how a tiny signal broadcast from a satellite 12,550 miles away can be used to derive accurate position and timing information. I'll review the ways in which this signal can be spoofed to cause equipment to think it's in the wrong place, and possibly at the wrong time. I'll outline some of the things that equipment manufacturers have done to try and counter this, but note there's a lot more to do before advanced attacks stop being practical.
I am a security researcher at Nettitude, with a focus on maritime system security. I am fascinated by communication technologies, and the ways they can be broken. In my spare time I sail, cycle and automate my house.
