News for hackers. Stuff that matters.
Re:GPSJam: Daily Maps of GPS Interference by coddle-hark on Wednesday July 27, 2022 @05:45AM (#32248537)
Since nobody’s asked: How does GPS jamming work?
Re:GPSJam: Daily Maps of GPS Interference by londons_explore on Wednesday July 27, 2022 @06:20AM (#32248725)
Basic jamming:

Transmit a strong signal on the main GPS frequency (1575.42 MHz). Receivers get saturated and can't hear the real signal.

Medium Jamming:

Transmit the signal that a receiver would receive at a specific location loudly. GPS receivers will lock onto that signal, and report they are at the location you choose, rather than the real location they're at.

Advanced Jamming:

Pick a target, such as a VIP plane. Calculate the aggregate GPS signal that that plane is receiving right now from all the GPS satellites. Now start transmitting that same signal towards your target (you'll have to transmit ahead of time due to the speed of light delay, but that isn't an issue because GPS signals are fully predictable). Now gradually modify the signal to make the target think they're moving off their desired course, and to make them make corrections. Watch them in realtime, and adjust the signal so they correct in the direction you choose.

This is how Iran stole a drone[1].

Military GPS is encrypted (ie. XORed with a crypto-stream), which makes the signal not predictable ahead of time, which makes the advanced attack impossible. The basic and medium attacks are still possible though.

[1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iran%E2%80%93U.S._RQ-170_incid...

Re:GPSJam: Daily Maps of GPS Interference by goodpoint on Wednesday July 27, 2022 @10:16AM (#32250667)
The medium and advanced method would become ineffective if civilian GPS was to be authenticated. (cryptographically signed, not encrypted)

It seems that progress is being made: https://insidegnss.com/what-is-navigation-message-authentica...

Re:GPSJam: Daily Maps of GPS Interference by tomonl on Wednesday July 27, 2022 @06:48AM (#32248885)
Was the drone not using the encrypted variant of GPS?
Re:GPSJam: Daily Maps of GPS Interference by formerly_proven on Wednesday July 27, 2022 @07:20AM (#32249133)
It is alleged that the RQ-170 was expressly designed for risky operations (where loosing it eventually is likely, and retrieval/destruction may not be possible) and so was created without sensitive technology.
Re:GPSJam: Daily Maps of GPS Interference by londons_explore on Wednesday July 27, 2022 @07:29AM (#32249201)
The crypto for US military GPS uses the same keys worldwide, and rotated ~ weekly. That means if you capture any device which has the crypto keys, then you can spoof military GPS for the rest of the week, allowing you to do lots more damage.

Therefore, the military often doesn't even use the keys in their own devices.

Re:GPSJam: Daily Maps of GPS Interference by TechBro8615 on Wednesday July 27, 2022 @09:04AM (#32249922)
How do you know this?
Re:GPSJam: Daily Maps of GPS Interference by londons_explore on Wednesday July 27, 2022 @09:13AM (#32250002)
It's in the published specs of the satellites. They have a whole key schedule bit.
Re:GPSJam: Daily Maps of GPS Interference by dzhiurgis on Wednesday July 27, 2022 @06:53AM (#32248917)
IIRC there was speculation Russia helped to decrypt it?
Re:GPSJam: Daily Maps of GPS Interference by thewizardofaus on Wednesday July 27, 2022 @07:13AM (#32249083)
Synchronous and Asynchronous GPS Spoofing are the correct terms to use
Re:GPSJam: Daily Maps of GPS Interference by arthur2e5 on Wednesday July 27, 2022 @06:28AM (#32248764)
The format of GPS civilian signal is public and you could just spoof it with any transmitter like a HackRF SDR box. There’s no cryptographic signature to verify or anything. The military code has had cryptographic anti-spoofing from the earliest days.

Or you could just send any super strong signal on the frequency to cover the satellite signal up. That can also work.

Re:GPSJam: Daily Maps of GPS Interference by dzhiurgis on Wednesday July 27, 2022 @06:50AM (#32248900)
Also - what's the point nowadays when you got at least 3 more constellations + jam-proof (?) GPS2?