Regulators Address GPS Spoofing

The acting executive director of the European Aviation Safety Agency says aviation regulators need to be involved in the design of satellite navigation systems to counter the growing problem of GPS spoofing. But Luc Tytgat told a forum on the issue in Europe last week that for now civilian victims will have to be vigilant. "We immediately need to ensure that pilots and crews can identify the risks and know how to react and land safely," Tytgat said in a statement. "In the medium term, we will need to adapt the certification requirements of the navigation and landing systems. For the longer term, we need to ensure we are involved in the design of future satellite navigation systems."

For the last six months, airline and other civilian pilots have reported incorrect data corrupting or crashing their navigation systems. In many cases, their onboard gear has been tricked into giving the incorrect position of the aircraft, sometimes hundreds of miles from where they're actually flying. It started in an airway near contended airspace near the Iraq border, but there have also been reports in other areas of the Middle East and eastern Europe and over the Arctic.