Cyber Attack On Indian Airports: The government has confirmed that several major airports, including Delhi, Mumbai, and Bengaluru, detected GPS spoofing signals last month. However, it assured that flight operations were not affected. The cyberattack raises serious concerns about aviation cybersecurity and has prompted heightened vigilance at key air travel hubs.
The confirmation follows multiple reports of technical anomalies, including suspected spoofing of navigational systems, at some of the country’s busiest airports. Notably, the Ministry of Civil Aviation, along with relevant security agencies, continues to monitor the situation closely to ensure smooth air traffic operations and to implement strengthened cyber countermeasures.
What Is GPS spoofing?
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GPS spoofing is a cyberattack in which attackers send fake GPS signals to a device, causing it to show the wrong location, time, or route. In simple words, it fools maps, navigation tools, and tracking apps into thinking they are somewhere else. For pilots, this can affect what they see on their screens, including the aircraft’s position and speed. This is different from GPS jamming, where signals are completely blocked, making the GPS stop working and show errors like “no signal.”
How GPS Spoofing Works?
GPS satellites send very weak signals to Earth, which devices use to calculate their location, speed, and time. In a GPS spoofing attack, an attacker uses special radio transmitters or software to create stronger fake GPS signals that look like the real ones. The device connects to these fake signals instead of the real satellites, causing it to show the wrong location, route, speed, or time even though it has not actually moved.
GPS Spoofing: Where It is Used
GPS spoofing can affect navigation and transport by misleading ships, aircraft, drones, trucks, and cars, causing them to deviate from their routes or hide their actual movements. It can also impact smartphones and apps, allowing users to fake their location in ride-hailing, gaming, financial, or social apps, sometimes to commit fraud or bypass geo-restrictions. In the field of security and defense, state or sophisticated actors may use GPS spoofing around sensitive areas to protect VIPs, conceal military activity, or disrupt enemy drones.
Recent Delhi Airport And Airbus A320 Glitch Scare
The government’s statement comes just weeks after more than 400 flights were delayed at Delhi airport because of a technical problem in the Air Traffic Control system. The issue was linked to the Automatic Message Switching System, which sends important flight plan data to the Auto Track System. The GPS spoofing incident also follows global flight disruptions that happened a few days earlier, caused by a software update needed for Airbus A320 airplanes.
