FAA tells pilots to go analogue as GNSS ‘spoofing’ incidents increase

The Federal Aviation Administration is advising pilots to prepare to use conventional navigational aids to manage the risks of ‘spoofing’ attacks on global positioning systems and global navigation satellite systems.

Incidents of aircraft navigation systems disrupted by false data have become more frequent, causing pilots to veer dangerously off course. Though all pose a danger to aircraft, interference, jamming, and spoofing, differ in the extent of risk.

Interference and jamming prevent aircraft navigation systems from obtaining a reliable positioning signal. Spoofing sends false navigational data, sometimes corrupting critical flight systems and making them unusable.

In a recently published Safety Alert for Operators, the FAA advises civilian flight crews to monitor the performance of their equipment onboard, report any GPS/GNSS issues to air traffic controllers, and prepare to fly without digital satellite navigation systems before they take off.

www.forbes.com