GPS ‘Spoofing’ Could Threaten National Security : Discovery News
A disturbing article came from Discovery News this weekend, bringing to light the vulnerability of GPS on national security.
Computers have been hacked since probably they first began. Recent hacking of Sarah Palin’s email and my own experience with my contact data being lifted off of Ameritrade highlight the need for awareness and security measures.
We are a society that depends upon GPS. Deliveries are routed using GPS. We use it in our cars and our phones. Farms use it to plant crops. We track deliveries, geocaches, our travel routes. We are fast becoming a nation of “I don’t know how I got here. I just followed the GPS’s directions”.
It wasn’t always that way of course. Thanks to former President Clinton, we can now get within a few feet of a geocache rather than the 100 feet away we used to be from our target. I remember being amazed when we used our now dinosaur Garmin 12 Map the first time. The GPSr dazzled us by pointing out the next rest stop and what restaurants we had to choose from at the next exit.
Fortunately, our military uses a different system. While it is not vulnerable in the same fashion, the risk on the infrastructure is real. GPS spoofing could be disastrous. Awareness is a good thing, however. It’s good so the industry can take measures to protect this important technology.
