Jamming and Spoofing of GNSS Signals - An Underestimated Risk?!

SUMMARY GNSS technology is used for many applications: The surveying industry uses GNSS for monitoring the continental drift, stakeout fixed-points, measuring maps of areas and many other location based services. The construction industry uses GNSS for machine control and logistics, agriculture for precise farming, power steering assists and other tasks like bringing out manure, harvesting and plowing. Over the last 10 years GNSS has also entered many daily life applications like car navigation and location based services (Google Maps, Facebook). But GNSS is also used as a sensor for many safety-critical applications: the example of guided lading approach of airplanes is well known, but it is less known that GNSS – and here specifically the Open Service of the US NAVSTAR GPS – is used as a crucial sensor for timing and synchronization of reference stations for telecommunication, electrical power supplies, exchange markets and banks. For many years, the availability and faultless function of GNSS has been taken for granted. Jamming (intentional interference targeting the unavailability of the system) as well as spoofing (faking of a false position/time towards a target GNSS receiver) was no concern for nearly all users except the military.