There is a worrying growing trend in GPS spoofing, which can cause aircraft navigation systems to display the wrong location or the wrong time. This problem is also difficult to solve, and the only near-term solution seems to be better training of pilots.
In September last year, OpsGroup, an 8,000-person international organization composed of pilots, dispatchers, controllers, and flight technicians, began to focus on reporting on incidents of commercial aircraft receiving spoofed GPS navigation signals in the Middle East. These attacks are typically used by countries to defend against enemy aircraft and drones, but can also affect backup navigation systems, causing them to completely fail.
OpsGroup said the attack used an "unbelievable" specific vector and exposed "a fundamental flaw in the design of avionics equipment." This spoofing affects the aircraft's inertial reference system (IRS), which is used to help the aircraft navigate.
Reuters writes that global regulators, aviation safety experts and manufacturers met last week to try to find a quick technical solution to the problem of GPS spoofing near war zones. Attendees failed to agree on a plan and instead called for better training for pilots to deal with the problem.
GPS jamming and spoofing has become increasingly serious recently as the number of war zones around the world continues to increase. Eastern Europe, the Black Sea and the Middle East are hot spots for these incidents, OpsGroup said.
Last week's meeting was organized in Cologne, Germany, by the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) and international trade group International Air Transport Association (IATA). In a joint statement, organizers said GPS interference "could pose a significant challenge to aviation safety." They also called for increased sharing of accident data as well as Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) safety data, common accident guidance from aircraft manufacturers, and a commitment by countries to retain legacy navigation systems as backup in the event GNSS is spoofed or interfered with.
According to one source, technical solutions to address GPS jamming attacks need to be constantly updated, creating a cat-and-mouse game. A long-term solution discussed at the meeting was to develop a second layer of verification to check whether GPS locations have been spoofed.
Another hurdle is the certification time for some technologies in the civil aviation industry, which can sometimes take up to ten years to gain approval.
Israel uses GPS spoofing to try to protect itself from Hezbollah missile attacks. Israel has warned pilots landing in the country not to rely on GPS for landings but to use other navigation methods.