Research Reveals Israeli Air Base as Source of GPS Spoofing Attacks
Researchers at the University of Texas at Austin have pinpointed an Israeli air base as a primary source of GPS attacks that have disrupted civilian airline navigation in the Middle East. These attacks, known as spoofing, involve manipulating GPS signals to mislead airplane instruments about their location.
The researchers, Todd Humphreys and Zach Clements, have expressed high confidence that the spoofing attacks originated from Ein Shemer Airfield in northern Israel, although the Israeli military has not commented on the matter.
Utilizing data emitted by the spoofer and collected by satellites in low-Earth orbit, the researchers were able to determine the location of the source. Their findings were further confirmed through ground data collected in Israel.
GPS spoofing and jamming incidents have seen a significant increase over the past three years, especially in conflict zones like Ukraine and Gaza, where military forces disrupt navigation signals to counter missile and drone threats.
The Middle East has become a hotspot for spoofing activities, with estimates suggesting that over 50,000 flights in the region have been affected by spoofing attacks this year alone.
These attacks have caused confusion among pilots, leading them to believe they were flying above airports in Beirut or Cairo when they were actually elsewhere. Airlines like Swiss International Air Lines report encountering spoofing incidents almost daily over the Middle East.
Moreover, Estonia and other Baltic nations have accused Russia of interfering with signals in their airspaces. In a recent incident, Finnair had to halt flights to an Estonian airport temporarily due to severe GPS jamming.
While the impact of spoofing on aviation safety is concerning, experts assure that it does not pose an immediate danger to flights as pilots can resort to alternative navigation methods. However, it does raise issues about potential safety risks in the future.
