DGCA issues advisory to check GPS spoofing over Middle East
What's the story
India's aviation authority, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), has issued a comprehensive circular addressing the growing concerns of jamming and spoofing of the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) in West Asian airspace.
This comes after several reports of GNSS interference affecting aircraft navigation systems.
The circular offers steps and action plans for pilots, aircraft operators, air traffic controllers, and Air Navigation Service Providers (ANSP), the Airports Authority of India (AAI) in India's case, to tackle this emerging threat.
Context
Why does this story matter?
On October 4, the DGCA formed a committee to monitor GNSS spoofing encountered in Indian airspace.
It aimed at collecting data on incidents of signal spoofing and jamming encountered by planes operating to or from Indian airports or just flying over India.
There has been an increase in GPS spoofing over Iranian airspace. In September, over 20 passenger jets went off course due to fake GPS signals while one aircraft almost entered Iranian airspace without permission.
Details
Circular suggests development of contingency procedures and monitoring network
The DGCA circular emphasizes the need for developing contingency procedures in collaboration with equipment manufacturers to tackle GNSS jamming and spoofing while stressing the importance of conducting safety risk assessments.
The advisory states that "the aviation industry is grappling with uncertainties due to new threats and reports of GNSS jamming and spoofing."
The aviation authority has also proposed creating a threat monitoring and analysis network that would work closely with the DGCA to monitor and analyze GNSS interference reports.
Insights
What is GPS spoofing?
GPS spoofing is hard to detect and is a form of cyberattack often aimed at steering goods or people off course. It is carried out by sending counterfeit radio signals to a receiver to override the legitimate signal.
In late September, several commercial flights experienced navigation system failures, mostly in northern Iraq and Azerbaijan, with multiple incidents reported near Erbil.
By September, 12 separate incidents had been reported, with the latest one occurring near Ankara, Turkey, on November 20.